A Needle in a Haystack
by CoffeyJoe
Summary: AU Remnant is a place populated by creatures of darkness known as Grimm, but luckily there are warriors known as huntresses there to fight them off. Women using the protective lifeforce known as aura have carved a path for humanity through history. That's why Jaune is special, he is the only male in history to have an aura. (Not harem) (Adopted by Serendipitous House Pet)
1. A Night to Remember

**Hello everyone! As I promised to those who read my other fic "An Arc's Mad World" this outline has become a full length fic by popular demand! Thanks for those who came over from there, and welcome for those who are just now seeing this. I hope you enjoy this idea, because I sure do, and I hope you'll come back for more chapters!**

 **Thanks again.**

0-0-0-0

Jaune adjusted his tie for what must have been the 11th or 12th time for today. He gazed back at his reflection and saw an utter hopelessness in his eyes, the look of a man defeated one too many times. He rubbed his temples tiredly as he leaned onto the expensive marble sink, he looked down absently into the basin as he tried to breath in and out.

Jaune was going to be married off to the beautiful heiress of the Goldmine dust company, the second largest producer of dust in the world and just behind the Schnee Dust Company in money and power. They were situated securely in Vale's council just as the SDC were rooted in Atlas's council, and that meant they were the perfect family to be married into and it just so happened the prestigious Arc family had a strapping young heir that was coming into the age of adulthood.

Jaune snarled bitterly to himself, this marriage was the talk of every high-class group of philanthropists and government officials in all of Remnant, seeing as how one Weiss Schnee was going to become a huntress and thus spare herself of being married off, he was the next biggest talk of the town. Think of it: the sole male of the greatest line of strongest huntresses in history being married with the beautiful and intelligent heiress to the second largest dust company in all of Remnant! It would be huge!

Jaune gripped the sides of the sink hard, in other words his own parents were selling him off to some hard-ass ice queen that cared little more about him than his _mother's_ family name. That's right- he was just the sole male of the Arcs, a novelty at best and an unwelcome distraction at worst, but the moment the Goldmines offered a chance for marriage was the day his father gave him a talk about upholding his duty to the family.

His father. A cowardly man who had been whipped into such submission that if his mother told him to eat his hand he'd ask "which one?". The day he gave him the talk was the day Jaune found he had developed a tic when his emotions got out of control. He hid his livid rage well, only allowing a couple twitches of the eyes to escape his rapidly cracking mask of placidity.

He had been groomed for this "honor" for the past 4 years or so. Ever since he was 13 his innocent view of the world was shattered like fragile glass, his parents basically told him the score of things. He was going to be married off to some rich family's daughter and that would mean mommy and daddy could be richer and more influential than they were now. For the rest of middle school and all through high school he spent whatever free time he had going through etiquette lessons, physical conditioning, extra studies, and countless hours of meetings and preparations.

It exhausted him to the point where he suffered a full-on nervous breakdown and was about one shot of vodka away from eating a bullet before Sunny found him and stopped him. His parents hired a therapist for about a month, covered the whole thing up, and then went about like nothing ever happened; he was about to meet his fiancee for the first time after all. Yes, the entire time he didn't even get a damn look at her nor did he know what she was like.

 _"Jaune, I'd like for you to meet your Fiancee!" his mother said in a chipper voice, opening the doors to the spacious living room he got a good look of the only person around his age, some small 15 year old girl that looked just as likely to have him assassinated than marry him. Jaune took a tentative step forward, before being pushed along by his father who gave him some useless words on how to charm a woman which he promptly ignored._

 _"Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Jaune Arc." he tried to greet her with some modicum of courage, but this woman could stare down a beowulf._

 _"Kim Goldmine, you're my fiancee?"_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"Fine then."_

 _And that set the tone of their "relationship" for the next two years with them meeting occasionally every few weeks to get to know eachother. He had taken her on more than a few dates but she just spent the time doing some stock market crap on her scroll. They felt more like acquainted strangers than actual fiancee and fiance respectively._

A knock at the bathroom door pulled him out of his reminiscing.

"Mr. Arc? Your parents have requested your presence at in the dining hall. The party has begun and you're expected to provide entertainment." came the voice of their head maid Sunny Solaire. An unconscious pull of the muscles near his lips did little to reflect the anger inside, _entertainment, yes that's what you are. Entertainment._

"Of course." came the curt reply.

In the world of Remnant horrific monsters known as Grimm are kept at bay by noble warriors known as Huntresses. What makes huntresses so adept at battling such creatures is their inherent connection to the protective lifeforce known as aura that shields them from injury and heals whatever cannot be absorbed. It does well to give a normal human an edge against these monsters, but additionally, this connection also grants them a sort of trump card known as a semblance. A semblance is a power or ability that is unique to each person and manifests itself as some kind of "superpower" furthering their ability to battle the Grimm.

Strangely though, only females have the ability to possess aura, thus they are truly the only ones who can fight the Grimm. Naturally, women rose to power in the world and throughout history there have only ever been female heroes of legend and only famous female role models. Men, instead, were shoved down the ladder of importance and took up the jobs of cooking, cleaning, accounting, gardening, and other more passive and safe jobs while women took on the tougher jobs. This institution of power led to the common principle of male subservience such as taking the female surname, being expected to come second to a women's more important tasks, and being expected to be married off at their mother's discretion.

The whole thing made Jaune bitter and resentful. He came to distrust any women, hate his mother and father, and grow emotionally distant from his once beloved siblings. His sisters had noticed and tried to bridge the gap between them, but, as always, their duty as the 7 of the top 10 huntresses in the world were more important and their relationship never changed.

Jaune exited the bathroom he had been spent his time hiding in and followed Sunny to the dining hall where more rich, snobby guests mingled with eachother to feel more important than they were. His shoes clicked across the shined floor as he could hear the drunken mingling get progressively louder as they neared the dining room. Sunny cast a glance at the boy she had taken care of since he was 4 and hid her grimace, she could see the small tic in his cheek not to mention those glazed eyes, they made her feel sick that her boy was going to be sold off like cattle.

They reached the grandiose doors and Sunny opened them slightly before stopping to regard Jaune. "It will get better Jaune, but you must be willing to let it get better for yourself and those around you."

Jaune didn't even react apart from another tic in his eye but she guessed it was most likely involuntarily. She opened the door completely and allowed him to step in; he took a purposeless step forward garnering some lazy glances from drunken guests but was otherwise ignored. He spotted his mother and father chatting up his soon-to-be in-laws Aurelian Goldmine and Sylvia Goldmine, they were good looking enough about as much as rich billionaires do with Aurelian standing slightly smaller than his wife with a close-cropped head of salt-and-pepper colored hair. Sylvia and Aurelian were both dressed in a fashionable matching pair of mahogany-colored suit and dress, Sylvia had hair as black as the night and a face that was all angles. Despite seeing them often enough these days he rarely truly looked at them in any meaningful way, their faces might as well have been muddled blobs of color.

He strode over to them to make a gentlemanly appearance as a man should. He got near them and their light laughter paused briefly as they looked at him, dressed in his three piece black suit and red tie they apparently approved as they flashed smiles that had won them all kinds of favors before.

It made him feel sick, like he was just surrounded by fake, plastic people.

"Jaune my good man, it's so great to see you." Aurelian said, extending a hand as Jaune took it and gave it a few firm shakes.

"Yes Jaune, and I as well." Sylvia replied, extending her hand as Jaune bowed to kiss it slightly.

"Mrs. Goldmine, Mr. Goldmine, a pleasure to see you this evening." he managed to choke out, trying to remember his lessons on how to greet distinguished guests. His parents nodded approvingly yet Jaune did not even glance towards them, one look would send him into a ticcing nightmare.

"Jaune my good man, your fiancee is over there mingling with that wonderful Schnee and that amazing General would you care to join them?" Sylvia asked politely, but Jaune knew that was an order more than a suggestion. He looked over to where his fiancee did indeed stand, talking to some woman -a Schnee apparently- and her slightly more rugged superior if the crisp, decorated uniform was anything to go by.

Yes, Kim Goldmine. The heiress to the Goldmine Dust Company and his fiancee, she took after her mother more than her father with a face of sharp, hawkish features that reminded him of that Goodwitch lady from Beacon and stark black hair with silverish streaks done up in an extremely tight bun. She wore a grey pantsuit and had a pair of slim glasses on her face, she stood slightly smaller than him but she made up for it with a calculated and intelligent attitude. Her knowledge of economic and government were matched only by her diplomatic skills and it was obvious those were nothing to scoff at.

His _dear_ bride to be was so much less than Jaune wanted. His sisters always told him that whoever he would marry he would love unconditionally, and they would do the same vice verse. Kim wasn't quite _obsessed_ with money and status, but she did not, no matter what the talk shows and the magazines say, marry Jaune over some attraction to the blonde boy. She considered life to be more about upholding one's expectations than actually living how you want; it almost made him feel sorry for what a shit life she must have had, atleast he had his sisters.

Almost.

Jaune sauntered over to the gathered group and nodded quietly as they caught sight of him. The Schnee was dressed in a white coat that was similar to that of Atlesian officers but she had apparently incorporated her own style into it, a red brooch hung near her neck and the tailcoat was significantly longer reaching towards her knees; additionally, her feet and legs were garbed in some kind of boot-high heel combination that didn't look practical at all. Jaune subtly raised a brow at the silver saber sheathed at her belt, she held a relaxed but disciplined stance as she talked with Kim.

"Ms. Schnee, Ms. Ironwood, this is my fiance Jaune Arc." Kim introduced in that same formal tone she always used when speaking, no matter the situation. It grated against his ears but he swallowed his displeasure to smile kindly at their distinguished guests. If the white-haired one was the Schnee then the taller one with the black pixie-style haircut must have been Jocelyn Ironwood -A general if he remembered correct- who wore a white overcoat, with a gray undercoat, black sweater, a red necktie, and a white glove on her right hand. Her suit pants share the same color as her overcoat and are tucked into silver boots accented in gray.

"A pleasure Mr. Arc, I'd like to say you've gotten very lucky on who your mother picked out. She could not have found a better suitor." Ironwood complimented as Kim forced -more or less- a polite smile.

 _tic_

He lowered his head slightly to cover it but he was sure he saw the Schnee's eyes narrow. "Truly an honor as well General, and you in kind Ms. Schnee." he greeted with another forced but polite smile. He had heard of the Schnees, and he had attended a few of their stuffy parties before. From what he remembered this one was Winter, and her younger sister was Weiss.

Yes, she was always the entertainment at the party. And afterward, she'd be forced to sit with her parents while they entertained more important people, she couldn't move or go anywhere without their permission, just like his situation. All that was missing was the leash and collar at those parties, and he could even go so far as to say he felt a sort of connection with her at one point; kindred spirits if you will. But, unlike him, she could become a huntress and escape such a bleak future and she did, going to Atlas maybe? It'd make the most sense. He was brought out of his tangent of thought by General Ironwood's response-

"Please, Jocelyn will suffice." Ironwood said as she raised her gloved hand slightly.

"Yes, you may call me Winter if you like." said Winter as she kept her hands clasped tightly behind her back.

"So, Kim, have you thought about your future with your new husband?" Ironwood said, trying to make casual conversation as they sipped their drinks.

 _tic tic_

"Yes, the Arcs carry a lot of weight politically so I am quite impressed about the choice my mother and Mrs. Arc decided upon." Kim said, gesturing to the aforementioned group of people somewhere behind them.

"Indeed, a fine choice for a fine heiress."

 _tic tic tic_

Jaune scratched his nose to prevent the ticcing in his eyes and face from showing but Winter was much to observant. "Mr. Arc are you alright" she asked politely, but before he could answer Kim took over.

"My husband has a slight tic you see, we're working on fixing it at the moment."

"Mmhmm." was the only response Ironwood gave as Winter looked at him warily. Kim talked more and more about the economics of Dust Trading, the increase in White Fang attacks, and the socio-economic policies between Atlas and Vale. It all bored him to death, but it was his "solemn duty as a husband" to stand there and make sure his dear wife would look good.

 _tic_

Yes, that was what he was. A trophy, a decoration, something to be flaunted and looked at occasionally before being stuffed back into the proverbial closet for months at a time. His happiness was not a factor, his father, his grandfather, and his brothers-in-law had all been raised in this, trained even. Like dogs.

 _tic tic tic_

Anger rose in his chest, not at anyone in particular but it was palpable enough he could feel the waves of phantom tugs on his face.

 _tic tic tic tic_

 _tic tic_

 _tic ti-_

"Dear, I'm going to step out for a moment. Excuse me Ms. Jocelyn, Ms. Winter." he hastily made his way to the exit and was withing a few feet when he felt something latch onto his arm. He whirled around to see his father staring back at him, impatient and curious at his hasty exit.

"Jaune what is the meaning of this? You do not simply leave-" whatever he saw in Jaune's eyes made him pause as his son looked back at him for a moment before slipping that mask back on, the ticcing in his face never leaving.

"The tics have begun again, I'm stepping out for a moment." Jaune said emotionlessly, like some kind of automaton. Jaune's father did not say anything, but he did let go and warily returned to his wife to relay some simple message. Jaune took the chance to step out of the dining hall and into the chilling corridor as he briskly walked down to the kitchen.

He entered in without a word and spared not a single glance at those around him, some hired catering staff and servants of the Arc family. One in particular, the head butler Floyd, came to meet him halfway.

"Master Arc, something the matter?" he stopped when he saw just how bad Jaune's tics had gotten, over the course of minutes it had transformed but slight facial tugs into pulls enough to make him jut his head slightly.

Jaune trudged over to a low-laying cupboard and rent it open without a second thought. Inside lay a few bottles of expensive wine, some fancy scotch, malt liquor, and spiced rum all the way from Vacuo; Jaune took no time in grabbing the rum and disappearing from the kitchen without a second thought.

0-0-0-0

45 minutes.

 _45 fucking minutes of this was all he lasted._

And this was his life now. Rubbing elbows with the rich and playing househusband to some frigid cunt that couldn't care less if he was ripped apart by beowulves the day after they were married.

I mean for fuck's sake they threw them a contract for their marriage! He was mandated by the terms of the marriage to bare atleast 2 children, or one singular female child by law. Not to mention the countless impossible legal hoops required for _him_ to divorce _her_ he also had terms that were aimed at him specifically: no unauthorized activities, no criminal activities, no military service, additional schooling when applicable yada yada yada.

Jaune had never been so close to killing a man with a broken glass cup than on that day. Damn it all, the rum was hitting hard and fast, that crap always got him worked up in ways he couldn't help.

People tended to avoid him when he drank.

So there he sat, on the back balcony, away from his "family" and "loving wife" as he chugged a bottle of Captain Oro's spiced rum. It made him feel pathetic, what was the point of it all? He essentially had no say, this decision was going to come before his 18th birthday so his mother had full legal rights over him, but he could get married at 16 for some reason.

It was all some big conspiracy he swore to Oum above.

He sighed as he thought about the huge fuckup that was his life. He considered dropping himself off the balcony, _it would atleast piss of mother since she'd never find such a good opportunity to marry her kids off_ he thought bitterly to himself.

A useless father, an uncaring mother, a bleak future, and a frigid wife. Oh boy.

To her credit, maybe he could learn to love his new, terse relationship with his wife. Maybe he would be fine taking some business classes and ending up in some cozy job on some useless committee board. Maybe he could just raise a couple of-

No.

Hell fucking no.

He was a human being! He had free will! The gods above did not put him on this world to just submit and do nothing quietly and accept it with a fake smile! He heard thunder rumble overhead, but he could have sworn the sky was clear soon before.

He shook his head, it didn't matter. He needed a way out, somehow he needed to escape his mother's grasp and save himself. He felt warmth flow through his core as his world lit up slightly, damn that rum was good stuff!

He'd resist, he'd bite back, he would kick, claw, scream, and punch until he died or they left him alone.

"FUCK YOU!" he shouted, throwing the now empty bottle at the open, mowed field of his mother's estate. But, before the bottle could hit the ground, an earth-splitting spear of magnificent divine wrath split the earth asunder and vaporized the bottle into a fine powder.

The lightning had struck so close that the resulting boom shook the house. He could hear guests and servants run outside to check what was happening, but he could also hear the sounds of footsteps approaching the door to the balcony he was on.

Floyd burst through the door, worry etched into his old face, "Master Arc! Are you unharmed?!" he asked as his bleary eyes scanned the balcony to make sure his boy was still in one piece. But something was wrong, in the middle of the balcony, on the railing, was someone surrounded in a white glow, almost like that of an-

"Aura." Floyd breathed to himself.

Jaune turned around and quickly ran to his old friend. "Floyd! Are you ok what's happening?"

"S-Sir, I... We must find your parents." was all he could must as he saw his definitely _male_ charge's aura glow and blanket him. Without another word he took Jaune and ran down to the dining hall, when they entered they were greeted by the confused faces of his parents and in-laws.

"Floyd, what's happening out there? Is it storming?" his mother asked as she walked up to them.

Floyd just shook his head. "No ma'am, but we need General Ironwood and quickly!"

Almost as if on cue, said General Ironwood made herself known to the small party. He saw the apprehension on their faces and turned to face both Floyd and Jaune, "is something the matter?"

"Well sir, I believe that Jaune..."

"Jaune what?"

"Jaune may have an aura."

"What!"

"What?"

"What."

Floyd winced at the reactions but continued. "Yes, I saw him out on the balcony, after the lightning came down, and he was glowing or something. Glowing white I believe."

"Jaune, what is the meaning of this?" his father asked.

Jaune just shrugged and tried to make sense of it all. "Well, I did throw that bottle over the balcony and the lightning did indeed strike perfectly on it." he mused to himself, but surely that was a coincidence.

Ironwood exchanged looks with the gathered people. "I think we should end the party and get some rest, I'll be back in the morning to run some tests so please keep him here until then Mrs. Arc."

"Of course Jocelyn. Of course."

Jaune could feel something tie itself in his stomach. This was going to be the beginning of a lot more trouble.

0-0-0-0

 **Of course, as I mentioned in my other fic, the first two chapters of this series will be extremely similar to the one's on "An Arc's Mad World" but I plan to make chapters 3 and beyond their own original chapters. Leave a review of what you think and I'll see you next time!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	2. Stop the Presses!

Jaune sat in a stark white room, again.

After that disaster at the party Ironwood had called in every aura expert and cutting-edge scientist she knew and trusted and set about finding if Jaune truly did have an aura.

One pistol whip to the head confirmed that.

After that he was detained and swarmed by an endless mob of scientists. Somewhere along the way the secrets had been leaked and Jaune could hear the chattering masses of reporters outside the military base clamoring for more information. Jaune could only grimace in disgust, the way they stepped on eachother just to ask simple questions that Ironwood would never answer.

It would have been funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

He heard the _click clack_ of heels coming down the hall from outside the hospital-like room. Jaune had changed into a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt bearing a worn logo of a shamrock on it, he didn't have a whole lot of time to collect his things before being whisked away. Jaune closed his eyes as the sounds of heels got closer, _his parents_ had been ecstatic when they learned their son had the only aura of a male in history.

Oh yes. The promise of power and wealth had nearly quadrupled over the last week or so, where before his marriage to the Goldmines was a welcome use of him, now Jaune could be the very thing that could send the Arc family straight to the top. I mean, hell, they were already going down in the history books as the only family _ever_ to have born a son that could use aura!

Before the Atlas personnel whisked him back to whatever godforsaken place they were taking him, his father wanted to have a "man-to-man" chat about how important he was now. He found that funny for the sole reason he didn't really consider his father that much of a man, more of a trophy with a cardboard personality than someone he should look up to, and far from the realm of people who could lecture him on his duty.

 _"Jaune, you have an important role to play now!" his father said proudly, puffing his chest out to seem "Extra" manly._

 _Tic tic_

 _"You have been chosen by destiny to lead the Arcs into a greater future! So you should be quite compliant with all the requests General Ironwood and her colleagues ask of you, and don't worry we and your sisters have been given permission to see you every once in awhile when time allows." he finished as he put a reassuring hand on Jaune's shoulder._

 _My god, even when he could be considered the most important male in history all he was good for was serving others and making the family look good. Floyd did not question him when he took several bottles of hard liquor from the kitchen nor did he ask about the dreadful nosebleed Jaune had going for him when he returned._

So here he was now, alone with only Atlas military and scientists to keep him company. That, and the occasional visit from some councilwoman from Atlas, although they stopped those when one of their comments about Jaune's expectations while in Atlas custody made the power nearly go out.

Atleast Ironwood hadn't been lying when she said that his sisters and "parents" could visit from time-to-time. Word spread among the Arc family and their close associates and he got the infrequent visitations. He remembered when Bianca and Coral showed up with a small cupcake for his birthday some 2 or 3 days ago; he had forgotten his birthday was so close. With the preparations for the wedding there was nothing more than a passing comment during breakfast a month ago about the upcoming event, yet, despite himself, he smiled when his sisters showed him a signed birthday card from Sunny, Floyd, a few other servants, and his nephews and nieces who all missed him.

 _"How have they been treating you?" Coral asked tentatively, she almost winced as the question left her mouth. All she needed to do was take one look at him to figure that out, gaunt and unshaven Jaune did not look exactly the poster-boy for happiness. His clothes were disheveled and his eyes did not reflect that cute warmth from when he was a little boy._

 _His sisters may have been the only females he didn't completely dislike in the entire world. When they were younger they didn't see Jaune as a tool to get the Arcs further, nor did they see him as inferior to themselves; they only saw him as their clumsy, adorkable brother that any girl would be lucky to have date them, and they had become huntresses to fight for his safety in such a brutal world._

 _Unfortunately, or fortunately I suppose, they became 7 of the 10 most popular and best huntresses and that meant their schedules were filled to the brim. They still managed to call their favorite brother and attended his graduation from middle school, and eventually highschool, but there were major gaps in communication at times. It was one of the reason the arranged marriage between Jaune and Kim went so smoothly, if their daughters had seen what was happening to Jaune they would have used their influence to put a stop to it and that was something that Jaune's parents could not allow._

 _"Not good." was all Jaune replied, staring past them to the wall behind them, eyes unfocused and somewhere else. Bianca's hands clenched and unclenched uncomfortably beneath the emotionless metal table. Really, the "visitors" center looked more like an interrogation room with a few metal chairs, a metal table, and a large reflective window that gave unidentified observers full freedom to eavesdrop._

 _"God Jaune I'm so sorry we weren't there." Bianca tried to apologize but Jaune didn't react, other than a faint tic in his eye. Really, the eldest Arc daughter blamed herself for his precious brother's situation, they weren't there to protect them when he needed them most despite the fact they become huntresses to protect him and people like him._

 _"I'm tired, so goodbye." was all Jaune said as he stood up and turned to enter through one of the two doors in the depressing room. He had had enough of "family" for a lifetime, what he wanted was for Sunny or Floyd to be here. They understood, they always did._

 _His parents tried to visit him once. Keyword being tried, when they began to talk about how proud they were and how much publicity the Arcs were getting Jaune accidentally tasered his two guards and his parents were labeled as "stress hazards" and were asked to leave immediately._

"Mr. Arc? It's Dr. Howl." came the soft voice from outside the door. Ah yes, Dr. Howl, the leading scientist in aura experimentation and the head researcher for what was now named "Project Y". She seemed friendly enough he supposed, but it would be a cold day in hell before he trusted her; he could see it well, that maniacal fascination that all the doctors and scientists had when they studied him. Yeah, he wasn't going to drop his guard for a second.

"What." he responded shortly.

She entered wearing her usual Atlesian doctor's uniform that seemed little different from an officer's. Clipboard in hand she addressed him, "Mr. Arc we need to run a few stress tests on your aura levels real quick."

"Go ahead." he replied in the same gruff tone, not even sparing her a glance as he zeroed in on the white walls, it wasn't like he could say no or anything. If she seemed offended or put off by his response she did well not to show it and proceeded to hook his arm up to some monitor machine that would gauge his aura levels.

Pressing a button, the various rubber patches on his arm as well as the black brace began to exert small shocks and pressures that seemed to fluctuate in intensity. Jaune grunted in discomfort and, trying to bridge the cavernous, awkward gap between them, Howl stepped in.

"Good. Good. Your aura levels are truly something extraordinary Mr. Arc. Far beyond that of even some professional huntresses, in fact, we've begun to theorize that perhaps the dormant aura in males is naturally more palpable in size and intensity." Jaune just tuned her stupid ramblings out, every day it was like this: wake up, eat, experiments, experiments, experiments, and finally some wooden words of encouragement and some bleak praise before leaving him to sometimes cry alone in his small dorm.

Ever since becoming a lab rat for these doctors, a lot of experimentation was done on his aura and semblance both in the theoretical and the practical. It was discovered his aura reacted to negative emotions output by Jaune, and used it to draw electrical energy from the surrounding area and, with some of the more angry moments, develop thunderstorms. His semblance was aptly titled "Electronegativity" and many tests were done of its uses and restraints.

"Also you should know, Mr. Arc, that you are being expected to release a press statement later today." Jaune's had snapped to her so fast there was an audible crack in his neck, "Don't worry, we've prepared clothing and a speech, all you need to do is repeat what's on the notecards and you'll do just fine."

Jaune, however, was not fine in the slightest. In fact, one could say he was the farthest thing from _fine_ a person could be. Here he was, abandoned by his parents to the mercy of these scientists as they sat around all day stabbing him with medical instruments and chatting up how awesome their job was. He'd been stuck in his cramped little dorm with nary a window or even any goddamn books for over week as people just shuffled in and out. And now, they wanted _him_ to go release a press statement when he barely knew anything about his aura? He didn't even get the goddamn courtesy to read about the practical effects and fundamentals of aura nor anything with semblances! For all he knew, he could go off at any second like a timebomb without a ticking counter.

The tension was thick and heavy in the room, and Dr. Howl could feel it. Silence reigned in the examination room, save for only the soft wheezing of the machines that surrounded them. Howl tried to make light of the situation considering how downtrodden the boy seemed to be always.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of crowds ha ha he he..." she trailed off as Jaune's head jerked slightly every few seconds.

 _tic tic tic_

0-0-0-0

 **Later that day...**

Jaune stood on stage left, safely behind a curtain as his helper, secretary person or whatever adjusted his tie and looked at him with a smile.

"You're going to be just fine, just remember to read of the notecards." he said, stressing the end as Jaune nodded stiffly. It was just a brief appearance, but he was supposed to be the unveiled hero of the male world, and possibly the key to defeating the Grimm themselves!

Sure. Or, in other words, he would be stood up on that stage and shown off around the world like some carnival freakshow and everyone would just eat it up, Atlas gets the good press and the Arcs become famous.

Yeah. That's about right.

"Good luck champ." you know, for an Atlesian dog, his secretary-guy wasn't half bad. Atleast he had a sense of humor. He shook his head as the curator of the event -some officer or something- announced that Jaune himself was here to make a statement. He also asked that they hold off questions as Dr. Howl would be able to answer them better, couldn't expect the man to answer them now could they? That was Jaune's cue as he strode out across the stage floor to excited cheers and clapping, maybe even a wolf-whistle if he heard correctly. He swallowed another grimace and put on his best plastic smile.

He walked up to the podium where his coveted notecards awaited. He took a second to get situated and looked up into the crowd as he began.

"Hello. My name is Jaune Arc and, yes, I'm the first male in history to be born with an aura. I discovered my gift a little over a week ago at a party my parents were hosting, at this time we're unsure but we also believe they may have found my semblance. Fortunately, General Ironwood was there to keep me safe and provide... M-Moral support as the Atlesian council has been given full custody over my research. I am... _grateful_ for such an opportunity and have been c-counting my blessings as the staff here have provided me with some e-excellent care-"

His face began to tic more and more as he read off these fake lines. Ironwood? Moral support? What were they smoking? He'd rather be hanging from the rafters instead of being trapped in this hellhole.

"*Ahem, excuse me. The research is going well and I have been told that I will be integral t-to the annihilation of the Grimm threat. I'm truly... truly grateful for my family and Ironwood, who h-have helped me through these trying times." Jaune grit his teeth as he audibly choked out the words. His face felt hot and he could feel the rough tugging along his face and eyes, if any of them could fully see his concealed face they would of thought he was about to go postal.

"Y-Yes, there is much to be discov..." he trailed off as he fully took in his surroundings, a sea of eager reporters recording and an armada of cameras from around the globe trained on him. More rich and important folk scattered around along the edges of the stage, the front of the crowd, and in some stands above. Suddenly, almost without any conscious thought, Jaune's face was ripped in a snarl. Canines bared he gripped the edges of the podium before, with a sharp grunt, knocked it over with a howling _crack_ as notecards went flying and reporters backed away with sharp gasps.

Silence reigned in the area as people stood dumbfounded, Jaune looked around and accidentally caught the eye of someone near the back clad in green, well, everything. She quickly turned away to sip from her mug, as if nothing was wrong.

Jaune head tugged roughly, snapping his head to the side and that was his cue to leave, he walked briskly off the stage where the same officer and a small squad of soldiers awaited.

"What was that! Do you know what-" she whispered roughly before being cut off.

"Ironwood, where is she."

"Not now, you need to-"

"Where!" he shouted, the officer looked taken aback before mumbling something about the stands above. He waded went to cut through the small crowd of soldiers as chatter began to return and Atlesian PR representatives tried to reign in the scene, one soldier grabbed his shoulder only to be sent to his ass as Jaune pushed her off.

"Don't you fucking touch me." Jaune hissed venomously, face still running rampant with tics and the like. He walked away stiffly as if he was made of wood as his head still jerked slightly, staff and officials got out of his way as he made for the back entrance to where the higher up stands would be.

He clambered up the metal staircase as he heard the door open behind him, two soldiers tailing him to make sure he didn't try anything but smart enough not to be on his back. He entered through another door marked "VIP ONLY" in big, gold lettering and found himself in a room with a few councilwomen, Ironwood, Winter, and the green woman from before.

"Mr. Arc." Ironwood began before Jaune marched up to her and grabbed her by the front of her pristine uniform.

"Where do you get off acting like some kind of goddamn angel sent from above?!" Jaune demanded as the lights flickered slightly, Winter took notice and her hand came to rest on her saber. Jaune caught the movement and jerked his head to look at her-

"Try it, I dare you." she seemed apprehensive as the two soldiers following him bust down the door, guns aimed and set to stun. With a wave of his hand Ironwood calmed them down and looked at Jaune.

"I understand Mr. Arc, I was against doing this but the _council members_ wanted this press release as soon as possible. They sent me the notice hours before you were informed of it, so I am not to blame." she said, throwing the two councilwomen in the room to the wolves, or rather wolf in this case.

Jaune shoved Ironwood roughly, sending her almost to the ground but luckily Winter caught her superior in time to balance her. The two suited councilwomen backed off slightly as Jaune loomed over to them, a thin coat of white rising off him. The lights flickered and there was the faint sound of electricity sparking from within the walls.

"You did this?" they tried to sputter out some reply and Jaune closed in, a murderous look embedded in his blue eyes.

"Mr. Arc, before you fry our dear council members, may I offer a deal." one again Jaune's had snapped over to the speaker, the green woman from before who stood there nonchalantly sipping her coffee.

"Who are you?" Jaune spat angrily.

"I am Headmaster Olivier Ozpin from Beacon academy. I want to offer you a deal I don't think you'll refuse." Jaune nodded slowly, this woman seemed crafty, and dangerous, not exactly someone to let your guard down around.

"Ironwood and I have been talking along with the council in Vale, and we would like to offer you a place in Beacon Academy." Jaune chewed on that for a moment, there were a few things wrong with it.

"Who said I wanted to become a hunter?"

"Well, that was inevitable. The Atlas Council was going to enroll you in Atlas next year anyway." Jaune turned slowly to look at the two council members, backed into a corner and desperately searching for a way out.

"What I offer, is you come to Beacon under the tutelage of some of the finest huntresses in the world, you stay for 4 years, and, regardless if you graduate, you will be given full autonomy over yourself and your future." she said, taking another sip of coffee.

"You have no right Headmaster! Jaune Arc is in the custody of-" one of the councilwomen began but was cut off as Jaune jutted a finger out at her.

"You shut the hell up." he growled, a singular arc of blue electricity coming from one of the lights and landing on his outstretched finer, blue webs of energy coiling and ebbing out from the point where it struck. The councilwoman returned to where she was before and remained silent after that.

"I have little training in fighting, I doubt I'd make the cut when compared to other, more advanced applicants." he reasoned to Ozpin who nodded her head.

"True, but this year's applicants have already been accepted so that means you must wait until next year to become a full student. In the meantime, I will contact some friends of mine to train you in the art of fighting if you will allow it." Jaune hummed at that, he didn't trust this woman but her offer was certainly better than his current living condition.

Plus, by the time they trained him, if he wanted out there'd be little they could do to stop him.

"Ok Ozpin, I guess I'm interested." He said coyly, Ozpin never really reacted instead just sloshing the coffee in her mug and taking a sip. But what he didn't see was the small smile she had as the mug was raised.

"I'm happy to hear it Mr. Arc."

0-0-0-0

Jaune had calmed down to the point where his little tics were almost invisible motions of the eyes and face, but he was far from what someone would call _happy_. Headmaster Ozpin was a crafty bitch for sure; she offered him a deal too good to pass up, but also one that placed himself in the subservience of another kingdom albeit in a slightly better position.

He was sat in a cushy leather chair in some sort of VIP room separate from the one they were just in. Ozpin had gone off to "make a call" in her own words, and Ironwood was pacing back and forth heavily while talking some military jargon with someone else over the scroll. Suddenly, the door opened as two familiar figures entered and Jaune fought off both a massive tic and a splitting migraine using the willpower he had built up over the years. His _dear_ mom and dad had finally been let inside after trying to find him for the past hour; he took some pleasure in watching them scurry around from the viewing area in the VIP lounge for the past hour or so. The reason why they were so concerned was fairly simple-

Ironwood had spread the word that the event was being shut down and that _she_ would be releasing a smaller press statement at a later date. From there, it was a simple matter of just informing his "family" and the council.

Neither took it very well.

"Jaune! I am shocked and appalled at this utter lack of respect for Ironwood and her staff." his mother scolded angrily, deep scowl etched into her face. "You were raised better than to throw fits, and what will the Goldmines think when they see this?"

And there it was! The real reason she was upset!

Yes, don't think about how the boy you gave birth to was maybe having a mental breakdown at this overload of stress. No, you need to think about how this will effect your ability to weasel your way into the political power world. Jaune's hand reflexively clenched as the joints cracked softly, it was the only way he could avoid ticcing at the moment and he hoped that it wouldn't become its own thing.

On a normal day Jaune would bow his head and make his apologies, but there was a interesting part of the deal that he made with Ozpin that he slipped in himself:

His parents had fuck-all control over his life anymore.

That meant no marriage, no custody, no say in where he went or what he did, and no chance -other than this one- to see their son on their own terms. Sure he was just being passed off to Ozpin and her shadowy gang of friends, but he could atleast enjoy the moment.

"Honestly mother, I don't really give a shit what Aurelian and Sylvia have to say." the retort stopped his mother dead in his tracks and his father's mouth hung agape as he blinked, trying to see if this was some illusion.

"J-Jaune! How dare you speak to your mother-"

"Mmm, sorry Isabella but, as of the deal made of my own choice over an hour ago, you no longer have any custody over me. Council's orders." Isabella sputtered and tried to formulate a sentence but he cut her off.

"Sorry to say but that little wedding with the Goldmines is off. I'm a semi-free man! Or, atleast, free from you two." he said with the first genuine, serene smile on his face in the long time. He was going to save those expressions to the mental folder to come back again and again; Isabella turned to Ironwood who had finished the call to watch the spectacle before her.

"Yes, the Valechan Council has been given full custody over Jaune under article 14 of the Vale constitution." Isabella shook her head as her dreams of being a big political power-player crashed down around her.

"Yeah, you'd be surprised what the council can legally do when they want. Usually they use it to keep men on the bottom, but this time they used it to screw you two over big time." his smile turned viscous as he went on the attack, hungry for blood.

"So, while I become the first _hunstman_ in history you will all be shoved to the side and forgotten. A fitting end for a couple of parents who valued their child less than they did their greed." he shrugged his shoulders as the intercom in the lounge crackled.

" _General Ironwood, Headmaster Ozpin has prepared a transport for Jaune Arc._ " the voice said in a slightly static voice.

"My cue, I'd say it's been a pleasure but it hasn't." he made for the door and, while his wife was still in reboot mode, Nicholas made for Jaune.

"Jaune! How could you do something like this! We're your parents, I'm your father!" he pleaded desperately.

"Oh please, you're nothing but a knick-knack for Isabella. Tell me, when they think of the Arcs do they think of you or me? No, they don't." Nicholas choked on his words as he whirled around for some kind of support, and found he had none. "So do what you do best and sit there and look pretty while being as quiet as possible."

"H-How- How could you!" he shouted, confusion turning to indignant anger as he came at Jaune.

 _The moment we've all been waiting for_ he thought savagely. As his father closed in Jaune ignited his aura and whirled around to deliver a single, devastating haymaker to Nicholas's head. He felt the bones underneath his fist crunch and he smiled maniacally, this was a long time coming and he was going to enjoy it.

Nicholas crumpled to the floor, still alive but in need of a medic. Jaune lazily looked over to Ironwood who just stood there, demeanor never changing saved for a now cocked eyebrow.

"Let's get our stories straight first ok? He came at me and I defended myself right?" Ironwood hesitated slightly.

"Riiiight?" he drawled.

"Yes, right." she grunted before calling in some paramedics.

Jaune left the lounge and made his way to the docks where his bullhead awaited to whisk him off to Beacon Academy. He reached there in record time, eager and excited to get started on becoming his own man! There, near a sleek grey bullhead, stood Headmaster Ozpin alongside her Deputy Headmistress: "The Witch of Storms" Glynda Goodwitch. She looked just like her pictures and such but he hardly cared.

"Headmaster, sorry for the delay a little family time you know?" he asked with a great deal of enthusiasm. Deciding that she didn't want to know what had turned the bitter man she met into such a happy camper she just nodded.

"Yes, some of my associates back at the school have arranged for a wide array of training for yourself before next year begins. Since we are pressed for time your schedule will be compacted so don't expect us to go easy on you." she sipper her mug and continued. "Additionally, I've brought in the expertise of one of my closest associates to train your personally, a dusty old crow."

Jaune smiled victoriously. "I cannot wait Ozpin."

0-0-0-0

 **Short little authors note this chapter as I explained things in the one before. All chapters after this will be completely original and I know you all will love that! Sorry for this being such a nightmare in how it's coming out, we just need to ride out this storm because after this it's smooth sailing.**

 **To answer some questions: yes, Jaune is becoming a hunstman but only for the reason to gain custody of himself. He honestly does not like the idea of going to an all-female school to fight monsters for obvious reasons. Don't expect out intrepid hero to just merrily go along with whatever they say, nor expect him to get along with his team all that well.**

 **Finally, I kinda want some suggestions on what his weapon should be. I'm not going for his armored-up outfit from the canon RWBY so keep that in mind before you just suggest a sword-and-shield combo. Imagine him in some modified street clothes, maybe something similar to what Qrow would wear. The assumption here is that Crocea Mors would only be passed onto the heir of the family, and in this world where females are dominant, that means Jaune would never get it. So just come up with your best shot and whoever I choose will get a shout out next chapter! Thanks again!**

 **Thanks again and stay cool.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	3. Summer School

**Ok fellas this chapter is going to be completed before the next chapter of "War!" because I feel like I kinda cheated you all with two re-hashed chapters. I've taken into consideration all of your suggestions and I am proud to say I have decided! I'll go into further detail in this chapter but for now some congrats are in order!**

 **Thanks to:**

 **Hellcer**

 **Benthino**

 **paytonc96**

 **Masked Guest**

 **All of your suggestions have been noted and I plan on incorporating them into Jaune's fighting style and character! Thanks to everyone else who sent in ideas because this one was kinda hard to choose!**

 **Enjoy the chapters lovelies!**

0-0-0-0

The bullhead jerked slightly due to an air current and Jaune resisted the urge to heave. Groomed for almost his entire life, he never really got to explore Remnant or anywhere else besides his tiny little town of Ansel. He learned that he had a crippling case of air sickness when on his ride over to the Atlesian base, and it also turns out that no one had any medicine for him when on the trip to Vale.

"5 minutes Mr. Arc, I promise." Ozpin commented amused at the boy's pain, she had to admit, seeing the almost completely bitter boy in such a vulnerable state was a little surreal and pretty funny. She had masterfully resisted giggling lest the bullhead be blown out of the sky by a sudden and completely random thunderstorm.

"You said that 30 minutes ago." he growled, the hand over his mouth muffling the words slightly.

She just waved her hand dismissively. "Merely a small lie to try and make you feel better, but we really are-"

"We are beginning our descent now, please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing." the pilot's voice cut her off as it crackled over the intercom.

"See?" Ozpin said, smiling coyly to which Jaune just grumbled.

As Jaune stepped off the infernal contraption his first thought was how marvelous Beacon academy was. A Goliath structure of white and grey arches that passed over a beautiful courtyard and connected to an even grander castle-esque series of buildings that must have made up the school itself. Situated in the middle was a tall tower, a green glass clock smack dab at the top, looking over the entire school grounds.

Jaune tried to hide the wobble in his knees and he stood up and breathed a sigh of relief. Goodwitch and Ozpin stepped out with him and he found himself in the accompany of what he would politely call some "peculiar" people.

Several different -what he assumed to be- teachers stood at the landing pad, ready to greet their new pupil and boss.

The first one was a portly woman, a short head of nearly white hair and a round belly that made her look insufficient to fight Grimm out in the field. She was dressed like a cross between one of those old-timey nutcrackers and a bell hop. She wears a double-breasted burgundy suit with gold trimmings and buttons, a pair of black slacks, as well as a pair of what look to be modified cavalry boots.

She stood there quite merrily, a smile on her wrinkled face as she let loose a boisterous laugh that may or may not have shaken the stone arches. "My boy! It is good to finally meet you! I am Professor Petunia Port, the Grimm Studies teacher here at Beacon."

She looked like she was going to extend a hand for a handshake (despite being more than 10 feet away) until one look from Jaune ended that notion quickly.

The second one was the yin to Port's yang. A tall, lanky woman with wild, spiky green hair wearing a simple dress shirt (although the buttons were wrong leaving her chest slightly exposed), black slacks, and some dress shoes. A pair of crooked glasses were on her face as she readjusted them every few seconds; he guessed it was because they were being knocked loose by her spastic shaking.

Seriously, the foot tapping, the shoulder shaking, and the quick, darting glances made her look more like a crack addict than a teacher. He had no idea what was in that thermos of hers she was carrying but he didn't want to be involved in a sting operation to find out.

"M-My boy! I am Doctor Beatrice Oobleck, the History teacher here at our prestigious school!" she took a long hit of her "coffee" and continued. "I hope we can work together very well! I mean- I mean, you are the first _male_ with aura for Oum's sake."

The sentence made Jaune swallow a sour expression but Ozpin could probably have felt it. "Doctor, please, remember what we talked about and do not say such things to Mr. Arc. He has had a rough time enough as it is due to his _proclivity._ "

"Of course! Of course! My boy, I did not mean to offend." he just nodded his head and looked at the remaining two.

Some tiger faunus wearing a lab coat, orange turtleneck, and brown skirt was trying to desperately stay out of sight; almost hiding behind Port to do so. And, when his glare affixed it to her, she did just that as she tried to stammer out an introduction. "P-P-Professor P-Peach, Dust t-teacher."

Deciding not to torment what could be his teacher next year his eyes settled on the next one. Black hair down to her shoulders, raggedy suit vest and dress shirt, black slacks and dress shoes, and a frayed red cloak. She must not have liked his inspection of her appearance because she spoke up within a few moments.

"See something you like oh _special one_?" she taunted, doing a half-drunken curtsy that almost tipped her over.

"Qrow" Goodwitch warned but she was a little too late.

"Smells like the divorce is going well _drinky_." he fired back with some of his hidden venom, the retort was enough to make Ozpin sigh and Qrow look at him with newfound curiosity. Suddenly, her curiosity turned into a smirk as she nodded her head approvingly.

"Not married." she said, cocking her eyebrows suggestively at him.

"Makes sense." he snorted, it surprised her enough to shock her into silence for a few moments. The three other teachers swiveled their heads in between the two like a flock of pigeons as they shot insults at eachother.

"Ozzy-girl, where did you find this treasure and why have you been keeping him secret?" she fake-chided Ozpin, this was the first kid to not be so put-off by her appearance and attitude to the point where he could insult back with surprising fluidity.

"Qrow, please don't antagonize him." Ozpin sighed, shaking her head as Goodwitch stepped up to control the situation.

"Enough Qrow, go to the tower and we'll brief you on your schedule from now on. Meanwhile, Oobleck, Port, Peach, can you escort Mr. Arc around the campus and show him where he will be staying."

"Yeah yeah." Qrow mumbled before drunkenly wandering off somewhere in the general direction of the tower, the three teachers nodded their heads and Port extended a hand as a gesture of following.

"Good luck Mr. Arc, you won't regret it." Ozpin finished with a smile on her face. Jaune couldn't help but feel there was something wrong behind it.

0-0-0-0

"This is the library Mr. Arc." Beatrice explained hurriedly. They had dragged Jaune through an unholy amount of places from the cafeteria, to the gym, to the classrooms, to the dorms, the staff offices, and now to the library.

"Yes, you may take out any book or books as you like so long as you continually return them within a punctual fashion and in good health." Port added on boisterously, Peach still nearly clinging to her back.

He honestly did not understand how she had become a teacher, nor did he understand how she was a _tiger_ faunus of all things. They continued out of the library, some students making hushed whispers and glances that followed the same pattern from every place they visited. None had approached them for reasons he didn't care to think about, but he could still feel their hidden eyes everywhere he went.

Next up came a small little building in between the dorms and the gym, but close enough to everything else.

"Yes yes! Here is the guest house where we keep the, well, guests! Discerning clients, visiting huntsman, transfer students, and now you." Oobleck continued before taking another long sip of whatever was in that thermos.

He eyed the building wearily, it certainly didn't look decrepit so that was something atleast. He entered and they gave him a very plain looking scroll, when he looked to them for an answer Port stepped forward.

"That scroll my boy will allow you access to the various campus facilities such as the gym, library, cafeteria, and your room!" she explained happily belly jiggling with her annunciations, he could vaguely see Peach nod vigorously behind him.

He pressed the scroll up to the door they stopped at and, with a soft _click_ , it opened to reveal a small room, roughly like that of a hotel, with a small bathroom and shower next to the door. He entered in a dropped his bag of meager clothing and personal effects on the plain-looking bed before turning back to them.

"Ugh, what now?" he asked shortly, Port drummed her fingers on her belly while doing what Jaune assumed was her thinking pose before her metaphorical lightbulb went off.

"Well my boy I feel as though you should go talk to Ozpin! I'm sure you have some questions don't you!" Jaune nodded and pocketed the scroll before leaving his small dorm room, shutting the door behind him he muttered a "thanks" before walking down the hall.

When he was out of earshot Port turned to look at her colleagues. "He certainly seems to be the chipper one doesn't he?"

"Hmm, yes. Although he is far from sociable or kind, I'm sad to say he has a reason for it. The poor boy barely had a chance to live his own life before being sold off to some rich folk." Beatrice said, taking yet another sip from her thermos.

"Y-Yeah, but did y-you feel that from him? I-I'm surprised they w-weren't attacked by a Nevermore w-with his attitude." Peach stammered, still clutching Port's suit from behind.

Port sighed, for once feeling her age. "Yes, but the best we can do is try and make him feel at home and bring him to people who can he build a bond with. Although I got a bad feeling about all this." she muttered before the teachers turned away to go back to their respective offices.

0-0-0-0

Jaune entered Beacon's tower easily enough, making it past the desk receptionist and up the elevator with no issue. The doors opened to reveal the Headmaster's office, a spacious place with large, brass gears rumbling softly overhead. He guessed that was what made the clock work, but the floor, made out of green glass, also had its own network of shifting gears beneath it as well.

Standing near the lone desk was Ozpin, Glynda, and Qrow who looked like they just got finished talking if the flask in Qrow's hand was anything to go by.

"I'm here Ozpin." he said, casting his hands wide like he was making a big entrance. Qrow snorted but instead of saying anything just took a mighty swig of whatever liver-killing poison was in that thing.

"Yes Mr. Arc good to see you, I hope accommodations suited you fine." she asked, hands on her cane as she sat in her chair.

"Yeah. Now let's get this briefing done with." he retorted, he was tired and didn't want to play this stupid hospitality game with her.

"Now _he's_ got the right idea Oz." Qrow remarked but quickly shut up when Glynda glared at him.

"Of course. Mr. Arc, Miss Qrow here has agreed to train you in Grimm combat for the next year or so in order to make up for your supposed lack of actual combat skills. The teachers here, in the mean time, will provide you with additional lessons to help prepare you for what you will miss by not going to Combat School." Ozpin took a small sip of her coffee before continuing. "First and foremost will be aquiring your weapon before Qrow can fully train you."

"Yep, ain't taking an idiot who can't swing a sword straight out with me to hunt Grimm kid." Qrow interrupted before the sharp crack of Glynda's riding crop silenced her once more.

"As I was saying. While we don't expect you to be an expert by next year's time you will have more hands-on training than most of our recruits by the time next school year comes around. Qrow will train you in hand-to-hand combat as well, and of course your studies with the other teachers, so you can expect to have just about every hour of every day filled with training and studies." Ozpin shrugged her shoulders slightly. "The price you pay for skipping so much experience I'm afraid."

If she expected Jaune to look distraught or overwhelmed she was dead wrong, instead he just jutted his chin in a half-nod. "Sounds good, would tomorrow work to get started on my weapon? I think I need some food and sleep first."

"Of course, I have called the kitchens to prepare for you an extra portion to eat." she looked at Qrow who still chugged her drink every so often. "As far as you go, I'd like for you to get a feel for what kind of weapon he'd be best suited for."

Qrow looked him up and down appraisingly. "Not a scythe that's for sure, the imbalance between his speed and skill would prove too much to handle so we're going to keep it simple enough."

Jaune nodded his head and turned around. "Seeya" was all he said before entering the elevator doors and disappearing.

"I like him." Qrow chuckled as Glynda sighed and Ozpin rubbed her temples slightly. This was going to be a match made in hell, she just knew it.

0-0-0-0

Jaune was walking back to his dorm with a small brown bag in his hand. Just a panini and some other assorted bits of food the cooks left out for him but his stomach was more than happy to take it. It was late at this point, maybe 9:42, and he was so happy to see the quaint little guest dorms that he didn't notice someone coming towards him. He felt a sudden impact on his back that made him stagger forward, he regained balance quickly and whirled around to see his assaulter. The clouds darkened in the night sky.

Before him was some fashionista chick and a rabbit faunus. Slightly shorter than him on both accounts but the fashionista was eyeing him with her sunglasses pulled down slightly. Yes, she was wearing sunglasses at night.

He already disliked her.

"So, you're the dude with aura then? Gotta admit, I saw that Atlas press thing and, just for the record, I like that little rebellious streak in you tiger." Jaune's eye twitched involuntarily, this girl made his nervous tic and stress-induced breakdown sound like he was some dumbass "bad boy" stereotype.

"Was there a reason you stopped me kid?" he said, she scowled and looked at him sharply.

"Rude, and yes." she traced a manicured nail around his chest. "You know, if you ever want someone to keep you a little company I wouldn't mind seeing what you're all about."

Jaune slapped the finger away and glared at her. "Goodnight" he said and without a further word turned to go back to the sanctity of his dorms.

Hispter-chick just gawked at his fading form before reality set in. "Hey you!-"

" _Goodnight_ " he said dismissively before entering the cream-colored building, leaving hipster and the bunny to slink back to whatever seedy dorm they came from. With his aura-enhanced hearing he could hear hipster-chick complaining glumly to her friend who just consoled her motherly.

0-0-0-0

Jaune woke up the next morning to someone pounding on his door. Sulking out of bed he opened it roughly, dressed only in some boxers and a black tank top. Outside was none other than Qrow, smelling like a happy hour special and suitably underwhelmed by him.

"Wakey wakey kid. I don't plan on letting you sleep in so it's time to get moving." she looked him up and down. "if you're gonna roll with me you're gonna need some stylish duds champ."

"Well I don't exactly have any _stylish duds_ you drunk." he grunted to which Qrow just shook her head.

"Obvious. We're going into town, get dressed and then we'll head to the bullheads." Jaune nodded and picked out a pair of jeans and a grey shirt before exiting the dorm, making sure to lock the door.

They slinked down the early-morning stone paths of Beacon's courtyard as the sun started to peak over the horizon. "Anyone even open at this time?" asked Jaune incredulously.

"Only one, the same guy who's gonna make your weapon." was all Qrow said as they boarded the bullhead.

0-0-0-0

Stepping off the machine from hell Jaune realized where he was: Vale. Or atleast, the marketplace of Vale where you could find almost anything from civilian clothing stores to Huntress weapon shops to some _erotic_ themed stores that parents kept their kids away from. Qrow lead him quickly down the cobblestone road to come to some forgotten corner of the marketplace. A shop was crammed in between a tech repair shop and a dry cleaners, _Dusty's One-and-Only Emporium of Weapons and Armor!_ said the neon sign that flickered like it was about to go out.

"Nice looking place." Jaune said, noting the bars on the most likely bulletproof windows with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey kid, the most unassuming of places are usually the places where people assume." Qrow said wisely, or- no, scratch that, *drunkenly as she stumbled into the shop. The bell jittered as some heavy clunking could be heard upstairs.

"I told you bastards that ya ain't-" a large, burly, red haired man came tromping down the steps behind the counter only to stop when he saw Qrow.

"Qrow Branwen, what's your sorry ass doing in this dump?" he asked jovially.

Qrow smirked. "Ask myself that every time I come here. No, I'm here to get something for the kid. I'm taking on another pupil y'see."

The man -Dusty he would assume- nodded his head. "Yeah, haven't seen you in here since that Ruby pipsqueak came in here when y'all were building that scythe of hers."

"Good times. But, I'm here for something roughly similar. I need two things: some good looking clothes that a hunter can wear _and_ look stylish in, and a good weapon for this boy here." Dusty seemed surprised slightly before nodding his head and leaning in. His eyes squinted at Jaune as if he couldn't see him before suddenly reeling back.

"I'll be damned, the boy with the aura himself come in here to get his weapon! Well goddamn I sure am one lucky SOB!" he cheered, doing a terrible jig that wanted to make Jaune cringe.

"Dusty, the clothing first mayhaps?" Qrow asked, apparently tired of watching Thor's disabled brother dance in his own shop. He nodded, wiping a tear from his eye, before jerking his head back to a separate door from them.

They followed him into a much, much larger extension of his store where clothing and weapon parts hung from racks all around. Dusty raised a finger telling them to wait before disappearing. He came back with a small mountain of clothes and, as he peeked behind it, he said something that almost gave Jaune a flashback-

"Time to play dressup!" he said, flashing a toothy grin.

...

Jaune tried on everything that was shoved at him. Coats, shirts, pants, and shoes; hundreds of combinations before Qrow shouted "stop!" when she found one that they could both agree on.

Jaune stood there in a dark brown, heavy, double-breasted jacket that lacked any hood instead having a matching collar, a casual white dress shirt that was made of a durable fabric, a pair of darker blue jeans, and some high top black-and-white shoes.

Tired from being turned into a doll, again, he just sighed. "Fine."

Qrow fist bumped Dusty before moving onto the more interesting part. "Now, he's going to need a weapon for himself. Something similar to mine but it can't be a scythe, he lacks the skill to use it. His semblance is electrokinesis so maybe we could use that to our advantage, we're probably wanting a three-way weapon as well for maximum versatility.

"Rifle or something smaller?"

"Rifle should be good."

"I'm thinking a sword since he's rolling with you from now on, and I could probably mix something into that."

"Good. ETA?"

"Please, a few days I got the parts already here!"

"Good" Qrow got up and caught Jaune by his jacket and dragged him out of the store with surprising strength.

"Wha- Damnit Qrow!" he shouts exasperated.

That about sets their pace for the next year or so.

0-0-0-0

Jaune sighs as he takes the trek back to Dusty's Shop to pick up his brand new weapon. It's been exactly three days since they visited Dusty for his clothes and it's been hell on earth.

His schedules been busy enough he doesn't have to deal with annoying students but it's traded off with Qrow kicking his ass in hand-to-hand combat and lessons with Oobleck, Peach, and Port.

"-And then I shot the stinger right off! Surprising that the stinger is actually completely unarmored you know..."

"-And- And, of course, Lagune did not take into account the Faunus ability to..."

"-Then you m-mix another cup of y-yellow dust and- No not that much!..."

Yep, it's been a real blast. Qrow has been taking careful account of his ability, it's the only thing she takes seriously besides drinking. She summed it up as "no idiot student of mine is going to make me look bad, now I'm going to show you an octopus hold."

Her criticisms are annoying but truthful. He's making decent progress with hand-to-hand combat and he's good at picking up tricks that Qrow uses but he has one glaring problem: he's too angry, too wild.

He starts out ok, nothing special, but as he continues he lets his emotions get out of control and his semblance activates. He accidentally tased Qrow when she least expected and that cut training for a couple hours. Her aura handled it and she made up for lost time by doing "endurance training" where she just kicks the shit out of him because she got an injury.

She kept scolding him on controlling "that damned power" of his unless he wants to give someone nerve damage when he goes in for a handshake. It makes Jaune feel bitter and stubborn, but he can tell that Qrow's being serious about this; his semblance is pretty strong for someone who never had their aura unlocked until now, and that means he has almost no experience in controlling it.

They entered where Dusty looked like an enthusiastic child waiting to show a perfect grade to his parents. Seriously, for how big and intimidating the guy was he sure was an energetic man.

"Yes! You know how long I've been waiting?" he scolded before smiling and setting something covered in a green tarp on the counter. With a small wink and a dramtic flourish the tarp came of to reveal a decently sized broadsword.

It's grip and crossguard were a sort of gunmetal black and the actual blade was a deep, reflective silver. In the area between the two edges there was a small amount of similar metal to the crossgaurd running in between; thick enough to fill the space in between the blade's edges yet not overtaking them as well as not reaching to the tip of the sword. Dusty handed it over to him and dropped it in his waiting palm, the weight was certainly something; not quite heavy enough to make it immediately tiring to swing around, but still a sword with decent heft.

Dusty giggled slightly and motioned towards a small switch on the hilt. Jaune pressed it and, with a series of metallic whines and clicks, the blade split apart along with the metal in between as the hilt shortened and the crossguard disappeared. The sharpened blades retracted as more metal came to rest over its place as the hilt continued to change in shape as even _more_ metal formed an small buttstock. By the end Jaune was holding a large railgun that he shifted in his hands as he checks it over.

"Yeah, cool right?" Dusty nodded enthusiastically as Qrow just scoffed and sipped from her flask. "That, my boy, is a railgun that packs enough power to burn a hole right through a deathstalker's armor." Jaune cocked an eyebrow as he fiddled with some of the components, firing modes, and the safety as Dusty continued to swoon over his own creation.

"I included a yellow dust reactor in the center so you can channel any electricity you conduct into a single blast. Do be warned though, if you channel too much into it a one time that reactor is likely to overheat and explode so keep that in mind." he warned, wagging a finger at me.

"now onto a few basics: you have three firing modes semi-auto, sustained, and charged as well as your safety of course. Semi-auto will allow you to fire shots a regular pace but don't expect to be able to mow down a pack of beowulves charging at you, sustained allows longer, straight bursts of energy so you'll want to use those on enemies with a thick hide, and finally charged allows you to fire a full on grenade of pure, sweet, energy."

Jaune nodded along as he set the rifle to his shoulder to get a feel for it, he fingered the trigger slightly and moved with the gun to test its mobility.

"Don't worry about the material kid, Dusty is known for making some tough pieces of junk." Qrow reassured as Dusty just scoffed at her before turning back to Jaune.

"One more thing my boy, near the trigger guard there's another switch." he explained, pointing at the aforementioned device.

Jaune clicked it and there was another series of metallic clicks and whines as the railgun mecha-shifted once more. It looked to be talking on the appearance of the broadsword again but the hilt suddenly extended to just under the length of his body: a spear.

Dusty giggled like a schoolgirl once again. "Yes that right there is her spear form, and with just a little _click_ of this button-" he clicked it and the blade split into two parts reminiscent of the barrel of the railgun. "-It becomes a super long, military-grade taser that you can use to fry your enemies. Like your gun, you can charge this with your semblance as well but the risk remains the same."

Jaune clicked it back into its broadsword form and slung it over his shoulder and into the sword holder woven into the jacket's fabric. He smiled for the first time in awhile and looked at Dusty, "thanks man, you got a name for it?"

"Ain't my weapon kiddo."

Jaune hummed for a second trying to figure out a good name for it, something classy but not stupid.

"I think I'll call her Tesla Sting." he announced much to Dusty's excitement and Qrow's uncaring boredness.

"Perfect kid, now that you got your weapon we can finally start really getting into your combat classes." Qrow threatened evilly from behind Dusty, he couldn't prove it but he swore that she was smiling from behind her flask.

0-0-0-0

Jaune rolled deftly out of the way of Qrow's sword as it cleaved the air where he once stood. Jaune whirled around, bringing Tesla Sting along with him, in an attempt to cut Qrow while her guard was semi-broken. She merely jumped back and unleashed a small flurry of shotgun slugs at him that he barely evaded, he got up quickly and switched it to its railgun form and fired a shot.

The gun kicked with the force of a mule and, although Qrow blocked it perfectly, it sent her flying backwards mid-air. Jaune blinked a few times as Qrow got up with just as much a surprised look on her face as him.

"Damn kid that thing packs a punch." she coughed as she walked towards.

"Yeah, it does." he nodded happily, smirking at his new weapon. Their little moment was interrupted by a call on Qrow's scroll, sighing she flicked it open as she pulled out her flask again.

 _You're on the phone, seriously?_ he thought to himself incredulously.

"Sup?" she asked, her expression turning sour. "Yes, I am her aunt."

Jaune watched as she took an extra long swig of her drink and nodded despite being on the phone. "Yes I understand, he's not pressing charges then? Of course, I will go talk to her immediately."

Jaune watched as she flicked her scroll into her pocket and sighed. "Damnit Yang" was all she muttered before turning to him. "Sorry kid, something's come up and that means I'm going to be gone for awhile."

"Whatever shall I do?" he asked dramatically.

She ignored save for a roll of the eyes. "So, you're going to be spending the day with Port and Oobleck." she smirked victoriously as Jaune grimaced.

Somewhere, deep inside her Qrow saw something familiar in the boy, but she couldn't place just what it was.

0-0-0-0

 **The first original chapter guys! I hope you like the weapon idea and, as before, thanks to those who commented on what they think his weapon should be. I plan on doing some timeskips next chapter so expect the events of the first episode to happen next chapter. Love you guys and thanks for all the support for this fic!**

 **Also I need to answer some questions and make some comments cause I kinda didn't clear that up before.**

 **I changed Dove to Qrow, I think that was a good call.**

 **Jaune isn't going to stay a annoying, stubborn jerk. He's going to learn one way or another his attitude needs to change.**

 **His semblance doesn't make him the god of thunder. In fact, it has a varied amount of weaknesses just as it has varied uses. One, it can't work without him being negative and I'm sure you can guess the problem with that, two, he has no control over it, and three, aura or not, a human can't just become a lightning rod for extended amounts of time without feeling it. That's all I have to say on the matter, hope that cleared things up a bit and I'll try to get an outline for next chapter sometime next week.**

 **Have a good summer if you got out today!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	4. Bright and Early

**Hello everyone here I am again with another chapter! I know I said the next one would probably be "War!" and I'm honestly sorry it is not. A lot of my creative flow has been coming back to this fic, but do not worry I have an outline for the next chapter and I'm refining it after this chapter comes out. I'm pretty surprised with how popular this fic has become, a little over 3000 views and over 200 follows so I guess I owe you guys some thanks!**

 **Enjoy the chapter guys!**

0-0-0-0

 **Nearly 1 year since accepting Ozpin's deal...**

Left. Right. Jab. Swipe. Parry. Jaune repeated these basic attack using his sword as he trained on some of the robots that Beacon has at its disposal. His dear mentor, Qrow, and flown the coop as it would seem and went off to conduct some "super secret mission" in her own words a couple months ago. When he brought up the point about his training she created a list of training exercises and techniques he would have to practice while she was away.

Which meant she spent about 2 hours looking up training techniques on her scroll, then wrote a few tips down and sent him the videos before leaving. If he had to give Qrow one thing, it was that she knew how to get out of work and still be able claim she did it. If they were both being honest then he was a pretty good fit for this year's batch of students. He had accompanied Qrow to some expeditions out into the Emerald Forest and thus knew a thing or two about the Grimm that lived there, his hands on training would serve him well in these next 4 years as well as the formal education from the professors.

Now, he was by no means a master. His control over his semblance had gotten much better, but there was more than a few times when he shocked himself into Beacon's hospital or he turned the tree around him into accidental lightning rods when he got upset. Tesla Sting provided a versatile fighting style when it came to both Grimm and humans, and he had adjusted to the many inner-workings of his gun. Stress tests done on its yellow dust reactor revealed it to be able to push something akin to a very powerful Arc burn, so, in other words, in a pinch, he could charge his gun enough to melt metal. Unfortunately, and one major key detail that Dusty overlooked, his gun would overheat after sufficient usage of the reactor as a way to prevent in from melting down into an explosive. Between a gun that could go off and a semblance that could bring about worse things than a rainy day, he just hoped that he'd be able to hack it with the other students.

With a sigh he finished off the last bot, nothing special really, it was a dozen or so bots set at level 3 or so to keep him on his feet. Ever since Qrow left the faculty here has been pouring on their lessons in an attempt to get him ready for the school year, he chuckles to himself as he tries to imagine the reaction the new students will have when they hear Port's "lectures".

Suckers, he built up an immunity long ago! He trudged off the gym ring used for sparring and practice as he headed towards the locker rooms, at this time of day classes would have just gotten out maybe 30 minutes ago so he was relatively safe from being interrupted.

Relatively.

"Yo, Jauney-boy!" came the familiar, and unwelcome, sound of Team CFVY's leader Coco. He had just stripped off his sweat-stained training shirt and he glanced over to her, Velvet in tow, as she came up to him.

"Coco, didn't think you would actually agree to become my cheerleader." he remarked to her, of course she just laughed and fired back with her own remarks.

"Not until you start paying _oh special one_." she smirked as Jaune narrowed his eyes at her.

"You know I hate that nickname." he hissed, she just shrugged her shoulders in a very insincere apology.

"That's why I use it."

"C'mon Coco, do you have to do this every time?" whined Velvet, very much used to their antics by now. You see, when Jaune blew off Coco nearly a year ago she took it as a personal challenge to crack that frosty facade of his. And now, after a year of hard "cracking", they basically acted like a couple of frenemy teenagers with eachother. Team CFVY as well as the now second years had become accustomed to their bouts of banter and insults.

In fact, most of them had become accustom to Jaune's presence. The man rarely talked to anyone, and, since he attended classes on his own schedule, no one really had the time to try and approach him barring Coco who always found time to annoy him. At this point, he was more or less a given on campus, a background character that people rarely saw save for some across-the-campus sightings.

"Yeah, don't you have work you slacker." Jaune chided her to which she just huffed.

"I would think seeing my best friend slash archenemy could take a small amount of precedence over whatever drivel Port had talked about." Jaune smiled at her dismay, yes the woman, beyond her asininely boring lectures, like to add onto the torture by forcing her students to write reports all about each class nearly three times a week. That smile soon disappeared as he realized, pretty soon, he was going to be in their shoes.

"Yeah yeah, look I'm hungry and tired so first I'm showering then I'm getting food." he said as he grabbed a nearby towel and made for the communal showers. Coco cackled evilly as she looked over to her partner-in-crime Velvet.

"Yes, now's the perfect chance to sneak in and-"

"Oh yeah! If I catch you trying to sneak a peak I'll show you just how conductive water can be!" he shouted as the sounds of a shower could be heard deeper within the locker room.

"Hmmph, party pooper." she muttered as Velvet laughed nervously to herself, he had made similar threats before but Coco didn't believe him until he really _did_ show how conductive water can be. She still complains and moans about the nerve damage he caused her and how he's lucky she didn't sue for damages.

Alone in his shower Jaune let his mind drift to his new home: Beacon Academy. If he was being honest with himself, he liked it here. Ozpin had kept her end of the deal and kept away the rabid fangirls, hungry reporters, and depraved scientists who all wanted to meet him face-to-face for their own reasons respectively. Port and Oobleck were some eccentric fellows, but he had grown accustomed to them like how a shark tolerates a remora. Although, he couldn't deny that Oobleck certainly did do her homework and had earned that Phd in Archaeology, and yet he did wish she would lay off that stuff she called "coffee".

Seriously, he had coffee before. Not bad, needed a little sweetener, but whatever was in that thermos had to be illegal somewhere.

Professor Peach was rumored to be the only female he wasn't immediately frigid with. Was it the master's in dust physics, the respect a student has for their educator, the timid attitude that evokes sympathy, the cute tigers ears? No one knew, but Jaune always seemed able to lend a helping hand to her after class; sadly, that sparked their own rumors that Jaune tried to force out of his head. There was something about her that Jaune felt... comforted by... she was a shoulder to cry on so to speak when he needed one, and she had the grace to keep those moments securely private between them.

Glynda Goodwitch was something of a mixed bag, he had a terse relationship with her ever since they met. An unstoppable object meets immovable force if you will; here you have a respected huntress with years of experience meeting the first male with aura who has a condition with females bordering on Gynophobia. They'd get into cold spats with eachother but Glynda's professional attitude kept her from truly losing her cool, and yet, at the same time, she was always willing to take some time out of her day to help him spar when Qrow wasn't around. In the end, he appreciated her more than he cared to let her know.

Of course there was Qrow, just about the most male huntress he had ever met. Rowdy, drunk, gruff, and sarcastic he honestly did not mind her company for the most part; save for a few drink-involved incidents their relationship was pretty much the standard teacher meets student. Although, much to the dismay of Port and Glynda respectively, he seemed to have picked up more of her drunken sarcasm than they wanted him to. When she talked up a storm on how big and bad and dangerous her mission was going to be, he was glad she was too drunk to notice the tightening in his hands as she continue talking.

Ozpin was, well, Ozpin. True to her word she held up every facet of the bargain and, in vice versa, made sure he did the same. Honestly, she was pretty much an enigma save for her love of coffee as well; still, despite her perceived mercy, he didn't like how she always spoke so cryptically and how she always seemed to be planning three steps ahead of everyone.

Jaune was brought out of his thoughts by a subtle clang behind. The lights flickered and electricity arced as the locker room became host to two distinct sounds:

"Damnit Coco!"

"Watch the hair man!"

0-0-0-0

Jaune sat at a lunch table alongside Team CFVY as he usually did, try as he might to corner himself away from every other huntress here, he couldn't stand staying in the company of only his teachers and Qrow. His relationship with Team CFVY was odd but by now they had all settled into a steady rhythm on how things were supposed to go, and that's the way Jaune liked it.

Coco, the leader of Team CFVY, had some sort of ongoing friendship/rivalry with him. They liked to get on eachother's nerves constantly, much to the chagrin of the other students as well as the teachers, but at the same time there was a sort of respect there.

Velvet was Coco's partner and her polar opposite, where Coco was promiscuous and flirtatious Velvet was more shy and timid. She usually tried to keep Coco on a short leash when it came to their antics so he appreciated her help in that aspect. Jaune could definitely say he respected her ability as fighter, he had more than once tried to spar with only to find himself on the ground in a heap of painful bruises.

Yatsuhashi was a goliath of a woman, standing nearly over 7 feet tall she was a nigh-taciturn woman. She had a penchant for art and music as well as deep meditation, they never really talked much but they seemed to both be used to eachother's presence. One thing they shared in common was a dislike for Coco's antics, especially when it involved the rest of her team.

Finally there was Fox Alistaire. While being much shorter than Yatsuhashi she had the same sort of quiet personality; seriously, he could count their number of interactions on one hand and even those few times were nothing more than maybe a minute of small talk. Still, she didn't seem to mind him and she didn't ask questions so that pretty much put her as A-ok in his book.

"So Jauney-boy, you excited to join all the first years in taking that big leap into becoming hunters!" Coco mocked with faux enthusiasm, Yatsuhashi sighed as they conducted their daily round of banter.

"Yeah, in fact, I am Coco. Can't wait to surpass you within my first year." now, Jaune wasn't much of a braggart, but he found out pretty quickly that the best way to get Coco riled up was by claiming you were better than her.

She growled before leaning over the table. "Oh yeah?! How are you gonna do that when you can't even beat this cinnamon roll over here?!" she shouted, putting said "cinnamon roll" in a headlock and holding her in front of Jaune liked a trophy.

"Ugh, Coco, please put me down." Velvet whined as Jaune and Coco glared daggers at eachother. For a second there her team thought that her semblance had something to do with electricity because they could of sworn they saw sparks fly.

"Hahaha! Getting along well I see!" came a boisterous voice behind him, Jaune's eyes widened as he realized he wouldn't be able to escape in time. A thunderous hand clapped down on his back as the force of it knocked the wind out of him. Coco cringed and held up her Velvet shield to prevent Port from doing the same to her, there was nothing like getting a five star from a woman who could knock down walls.

"Damnit professor, why do you do that every time?" Jaune wheezed and Professor Port just laughed again.

"My boy! Don't tell me that little love tap was enough to keep you down?" Port boomed enthusiastically, for some reason, Port showed affection for her students by knocking the wind out of them when they least expect it. Jaune had seen how she had sent some students to the infirmary with one of the claps, and Jaune himself had been the unsuspecting victim of them more than once.

"Did you need something professor?" Velvet asked, breaking the tense atmosphere as Jaune composed himself, ready and prepared for another attack by Port's hand of destruction.

"Oh no not really! Just came here to wish our boy good luck this year! To think, when you came here you were just a child and now you're all grown up." Port got a little misty eyed as everyone stared at her with exasperation, _I was only 16 y'know_ Jaune thought to himself before Port turned to him, suddenly serious.

"But you should know my boy, don't expect me to give you special treatment just because you're my pupil understand?" she said, leaning in and giving him a serious stare. Jaune just rolled his eyes, it would be a cold day in hell when Port gave _any_ student special treatment, something about Port family honor or something.

"Of course Professor." Jaune asserted, hoping to finish his dinner in time to get some rest. With all the hullabaloo he nearly forgot the initiates would be coming tomorrow morning, and, if he wanted to be rested for whatever hell Ozpin was going to do for initiation, then he needed to hit the hay early.

"Well it has been fun guys but I need to get to bed, big day tomorrow you know." he sighed and got up from the table, taking with him his half-eaten sandwich and his anxiety for orientation day.

"Sleep tight best buddy!" chirped Coco, sometimes he really wanted to chuck a plate at her stupid head.

"Yes, get a goodnight's rest and be here bright and early for breakfast tomorrow!" boomed Port as she waved him away towards the guest dorms.

 _What a bunch of cards._

0-0-0-0

Jaune tossed and turned in his bed that night, painful memories of a stupid, naive little boy pervaded his thoughts and dreams.

" _Dad, can I be a super cool huntress like mom and sis one day?" came the painfully innocent voice of a 9 year old Jaune Arc. He had spent the day with his grandad, dad, and his new big brother Amar (Bianca's husband) as a "man's outing". They hit up the baseball fields, the arcade, the market square and had taken some time off to sit down in the city park to relax and talk._

 _Dad smiled warmly at his little boy as he ruffled his hair. "Sorry sport, but only kickass ladies like mom and sis can be huntresses." seeing the dejected look on his son's face he continued. "But, a good woman always needs a loving and supportive husband to come home to no matter what she does. Just look at your grandpa and me, we took care of all you guys when grandma and mom were out on their super cool missions."_

 _He leaned in as though he was about to share a big secret, excited at seeing his dad so involved Jaune leaned in too. "You know what I think? I think that without us, the loyal and loving husband, our precious girls would be lost and the world would fall apart!"_

 _Jaune beamed, he had found his new superhero-esque calling: Jaune Arc, most loyal and badass house husband in history! "That's so cool! I promise that no matter who I'll marry, I'll be the best husband I can be!"_

That final sentence echoed as he was dragged out of his sleep by the shrieking alarm next to his bed. Yep, 6:42 in the morning at the glorious Beacon Academy; students started coming in at around 8 so he had some time to look his best and get some food. He did a quick, speedy shower and left feeling slightly more refreshed with 30 minutes for breakfast if he got dressed fast. Jaune was an avid planner, and he knew that without a day-to-day, organized schedule then things get overlooked, missed, lost, or neglected and he did not do that.

Blame it on Oobleck and Goodwitch.

Shrugging on his usual attire he found a text from Qrow: _Good luck on your first day my pupil! Make me proud, and if you see my nieces don't even think of putting the moves on them or I'll castrate you with Tesla Sting._

Jaune rolled his eyes at Qrow's immature threats. The girl had some kind of incestuous hard-on for her nieces he would swear to Oum, or maybe she just didn't like the idea of a male "defiling" his innocent nieces, especially the one called Ruby.

He ran over to the cafeteria where the various now-second years and upperclasswomen milled around sluggishly as they ate their breakfast. Today's classes were completely called off to prepare for orientation as well as the classes tomorrow due to initiation. Luckily, knowing how lazy Coco was and how her team usually followed her lead, he would remain uninterrupted for his breakfast this time.

He sighed happily as he dug into his pancakes, and yet there was something wrong with them.

For some reason, a disturbance in the force or the red string of fate tying a knot around his neck, his pancakes suddenly seemed a lot less appetizing for some reason. And don't get him started on the syrup, the stuff was beginning to look like poison to him.

The calm before the storm so to speak.

0-0-0-0

The bullheads arrived soon after, on them were the bright-eyed students from various backgrounds who all had the strength to one day become huntresses. The unloading had taken place around thirty minutes ago and the stream was beginning to die off.

He wandered around the campus, the rush of students, eager and overwhelmed, didn't spare a passing glance. In the distance, he could see some upperclasswomen try to direct the flow much to their dismay.

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the air around him from not too far off, maybe a couple hundred feet away in the courtyard. Jaune took off towards the noise, the last thing he needed was a couple first years getting into a fight. Turning the corner he found quite the situation indeed, a familiar red-cloaked girl was desperately trying to apologize to an equally familiar white-garbed girl who seemed absolutely furious at the former.

The wisps of red dust in the air, the dust vials on the ground, the sound of the previous explosion still ringing in his ears, and the SDC logo on whitey's suitcase painted a pretty clear picture in his mind.

"-Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" was all he caught as the red-cloaked girl tried to, once more, apologize. Seeing the fruitless effort he decided to step in as a more experienced "student".

"Hey, hey guys. Ease up, it's your first day no need to cause a scene." he tried to amend, unfortunately, while the look of relief on red's face was palpable, he also attracted the ire of whitey.

"And just _who_ are you? What is a man doing here at Beacon?" she interrogated, incredulous look on her face. Already he didn't like her, the snobbish tone, SDC logos on her stuff, and the white theme gave him a good idea of who she was.

"I, _Weiss Schnee_ ," he spat out. "Am Jaune DeAngelo Arc, you may know me as the first _male_ with aura."

Weiss checked her self with that, she looked him up and down and her attitude flipped. "My apologies, nice to meet you I see you're familiar with the Schnees and myself of course. Truly it is an honor to be talking to an Arc such as yourself, not to mention your ability."

Jaune grimaced, it was like the culmination of everything he hated. He could practically smell the rich, posh, arrogant attitude that almost everyone from Atlas came drenched in for some reason. "Yeah, just dandy. Now the meeting hall is just over there I suggest this little party move along before the teachers have to get involved." honestly, he felt more like Miss Goodwitch than some 17 year old.

Weiss looked taken aback but slowly walked away towards the meeting hall, butlers in tow with her luggage. Sighing for what felt like the 40th time today, he looked over at Red to see her dusting herself off; additionally, he thought he caught the glimpse of someone garbed in black seemingly meld into the shadows.

Shaking his head of it, he regarded Red. "You ok kid? Can't say I'm used to first years blowing themselves up in the courtyard." in fact, he wasn't used to first years at all.

Red seemed to be eyeing him strangely before some lightbulb went off in her head. "I know where I've seen you! You must be that "buttmunch" guy my Aunt Qrow is always going on about when she calls us!"

Jaune felt a tic in his eye, been awhile since Qrow was capable of making him do that. "That so kid? Well I guess when _Aunt Qrow_ comes back home I'll throw her quite the _shocking_ surprise party." he growled through a very fake, very gritted smile.

"Cool! You'll have to invite me and my sister Yang! Oh yeah, I'm Ruby by the way, Ruby Rose!" she chirped, the kid sure did have energy. Made him wonder how she could be related to such a lethargic person like Qrow.

"Jaune Arc of course, c'mon let's get you over to the meeting hall." on the way over Ruby asked him questions all about himself. To his immediate surprise they weren't questions about his aura at all, in fact, they were mainly about how life at Beacon was especially when he "got to chill" with such legendary huntresses. The conversation shifted to her apparent age gap and how she got accepted due to her "extremely awesome kung fu skills" which made him smile.

"Oh yeah! This is my precious baby Crescent Rose!" she said, flipping out a scythe similar to Qrow's but seemingly more high tech. "Not only is she a scythe, but she's also a high-impact customizable sniper rifle!" she cheered showing off her weapon.

"That's, pretty damn cool for a kid like you." her pout soon turned into one of awestruck as he unveiled Tesla Sting. "this right here is _my_ baby: Tesla Sting. A sword, spear, railgun combo with built-in dust reactor and optional taser mode when in its spear form."

"That's so awesome! Not as cool as mine but, like, atleast the second coolest I have ever seen!" she cried, stuck in her own world of bullets and weapons she didn't realize she was walking into the meeting hall doors until they walked into her.

"oof!' she grunted, landing flat on her butt as Jaune helped her up, yeah this kid was something else.

0-0-0-0

"So, you're the man with the aura huh?" came the annoyingly high-pitched voice of yet another faceless student. Ever since waiting for Ozpin in the meeting hall he was bombarded by questions and date offers by various girls.

"Obvious." was all he grunted in response, these girls were beginning to grate on him with their ceaseless babbling.

"So, maybe we could grab dinner sometime." one asked bashfully, sadly for her he wasn't afraid to shoot her right out of the sky.

"Nope, busy."

"With what?"

"Not doing that, goodbye." he replied flatly, shrugging himself off the gathered girls as he tried to find some space for air. He ended up right beside some Mistralian girl if her wardrobe was anything to go by, but she didn't ask questions which was a good first impression in his book.

Although, he could see a telltale blush on her face as she tried not to look at him. Jaune mentally sighed, he had seen this one before; you see, a lot of huntresses start very, very young and spend their time in all-female schools from kindergarten and beyond. So, a lot of them don't have much male interaction beyond maybe some close friends or family, and when you suddenly add in an unknown male girls become slightly flustered.

Jaune had this problem when he first came to Beacon, but he tried to handle it with grace anyway. No sense in giving her the impression he was some predator, so he tried to offer something up.

"Ozpin running late huh?" was all he could get out. _Nice one, real nice, that's a conversation starter as smooth as the sand in Vacuo._

"Y-Yeah, probably busy with the speech." she stammered slightly, Jaune rolled his eyes out of her sight.

"Heh, not likely, probably just wants to see me suffer." she giggled slightly before cutting herself short.

"Oh no- I mean, I don't find your suffering funny or anything!" she quickly tried to apologize, as he chuckled lightly. Not even Velvet was this flustered when they first met, although she had Coco with her so that might have been a deciding factor.

"Don't worry, I get it." he said, trying to ease her worries slightly. She seemed apprehensive to say anything else, but before she could get the chance, Ozpin strode onto the stage and began her speech.

"I'll keep this brief..."

0-0-0-0

Ozpin had finished her speech with time to spare so every student was then carted off to get ready for tomorrow. As per Beacon tradition, all new arrivals were to be sent to the ball room where they would sleep and await initiation tomorrow. Jaune made for the guest dorms to get away from the crowds of students who shuffled and meandered around, looking to the teachers and some older students for directions.

"I don't think so Mr. Arc!" came the jittery voice of Professor Oobleck as he tried to cross the courtyard. "As Beacon customs dictate, _all_ new students must spend the night in the ball room. It's only fair!"

"But did you see all those people Professor? You know that all they're going to do is annoy me." he whined, but Professor Oobleck was not having it.

"Hmm, a good test of your patience it would seem. But fear not! Port and I will dictate the proceedings and make sure you are not swarmed by any women." he said, trying to ease the mind of her young pupil.

"Lucky me." he grumbled, walking away from Oobleck who just sighed. _The boy has gotten better, but he still has a long way to go._

Jaune wasted the day chilling in Team CFVY's room or wandering around the campus trying to avoid all the new arrivals. He was not in the mood to deal with some clingy women who look at him as just the first male with aura, and he also didn't want to deal with the headache of Ruby and Weiss.

Jaune skipped the dinner and lunch services for the same reason, instead strong-arming Coco into getting him some food from the cafeteria. Suddenly, an announcement from Miss Goodwitch came over the speakers _Students, please meet in the ballroom for your sleeping arrangements tonight, locker rooms will be provided nearby to change for tonight and tomorrow._

Sighing Jaune gave in to the fact he was going to need to socialize with his peers as he dragged himself and his extra clothes over to the ballroom. He entered in and hugged the wall, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, luckily most of the students were still getting situated. Getting dressed in some broom closet Port had ushered him into, Jaune returned to roll out his bedroll and read for a bit.

Just as he rolled out the bed roll Jaune could feel a lot of footsteps getting closer. He turned towards the sound to find a small group of very temperamental, very agitated women who stood before him. The leader of said group, standing as the tallest and in the front, was a large woman with a bob of ginger hair and a the frame of an athletic body builder. There were various faceless women behind her that all stood equally upset for some reason-

"Let me make this clear, we are not spending then night with some _man_ who could easily be some kind of predator." sneered the big chick from before. "So, if you would be so kind to find your own little corner to go hide off in until tomorrow that would be great."

"And why should I bitch? What are you gonna do?" he threatened back, this day had left him with very little patience and he didn't feel like cowing down to this thug and her goons.

The girl's sneer turned into a snarl. "What was that you little bastard?" she growled, she lumbered up to him and despite being almost a head taller, Jaune didn't back down and moved to meet her halfway.

"You think just cause you got an aura that makes you special? Well I'll be god damned if some _man_ is going to order me around." Jaune could see out of the corner of his eye her fists clenching as he prepared.

"Throw the first punch, I'll shock you so bad it'll give you nerve damage." it was his turn to sneer, the thug in front of him breathed harshly looking like a boar about to charge. He just now noticed how quiet things had gotten, they were attracting the attention of the others and, worse, the teachers.

"How back you go back and twiddle your thumbs with your gang of pals and I go back to reading." he asked with plastic sincerity, the brute looked like she was about to answer or start swinging when Port showed up between them.

"Excuse me, you are going to be hunters. Please, act like it." she said, voice no longer that baritone boom which was a sure sign of her seriousness. "Miss Winchester, Mr. Arc is within his full rights to sleep where he wants, and Mr. Arc, I would appreciate it if you did not raise the ire of your classmates."

"Yes ma'am."

"Whatever."

They both split and conversations resumed with some awkwardness, glances were thrown all around between Jaune and Winchester. Silver lining though, no one wanted to come and ask Jaune any questions save for one person.

"Hey Jaune!" chirped Ruby, some blonde behind her. "This is my sister Yang I was telling you about, and Yang this is Jaune: Aunt Qrow's pupil!"

The two eyed eachother, neither one making any sort of move. "Nice to meet you Yang Rose." he said carefully, this girl was eyeing him with a calculated gaze, he knew that look; she did not trust him.

"Xiao-Long actually, it's a long story." she replied coolly. "Seems like my sis has a thing for you."

"Yang! Don't say it like that."

"Hmmph, yeah, I guess she's pretty cool."

"You guess?" her eyes narrowed, Ruby's head swiveled between the two in distress.

"Yeah, _I guess_." Jaune shot back, the whole conversation looked like a rewind to what happened minutes ago.

Jaune saw Professor Oobleck eye him carefully from behind Yang's hair, so he decided to cut it out. "Goodnight Ruby, see you tomorrow."

He returned to his bed spread as Yang huffed and dragged Ruby away. "I don't like that guy sis, he seems like creep."

"Yang! You promised you wouldn't do this, he's just a friend."

"I only promised because I didn't know there would be any boys." she hissed, Ruby just shook her head as they hit their mattresses.

Jaune's eyes drifted away and back to the ceiling as he tried to fall asleep, which was kinda hard due to the stares everyone was giving him.

 _Great, orientation has been a blast._

0-0-0-0

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Super long for my stuff right? Well don't worry, the whole thing is going to pick up soon enough what with initiation. And I also wanted to clear some things up.**

 **Jaune's reaction to the new students is, in my opinion, very deserved. He spent much of his teenage life feeling animosity towards females and a strong sense of betrayal, so he has an issue with meeting new people especially when they give a bad first impression. Ruby doesn't seem like the type of girl to be interested in Jaune for his aura, but Weiss is (which is something that would set Jaune off) thus Jaune would prefer Ruby. Don't worry, Jaune, while being immediately snippish for the most part, can develop meaningful relationships if somewhat terse ones. Don't expect him to pour his heart out at every little thing, but don't expect him to also freak out at every girl.**

 **Moving on, spending nearly a year at Beacon has let Jaune develop a rhythm of how the people there act and how they treat him. He doesn't fully trust the staff, but he does feel some sort of bond with them that will be elaborated on. During the school chapters, you guys will see their relationship as a whole instead of in parts. I wrote his relationship with Team CFVY as what I think it would be like, Coco is a flirt and kind of sarcastic so Jaune would return in kind given his personality.**

 **Hope this clears things up, and next chapter I'll answer some questions maybe like a Q/A so leave a comment.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	5. Boots on the Ground

**Howdy all, another chapter! Once again thanks for the support on this fanfic. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'd like to tell you guys in advance that there is a major canon change to this story, I won't say what but when it happens have faith that I know what I'm doing. It all plays into it later on.**

 **So with that out of the way, Jaune has to start initiation!**

0-0-0-0

 _"Hey Amar, what do you like most about being married to my sister?" a much smaller Jaune asked his "new" big brother. Amar had been picked up by his eldest sister Bianca after they met eachother on a bullhead ride, he had helped her with her motion sickness and things clicked together after that. Jaune liked him if he was a little spaced out sometimes, but he trusted him like he trusted Grandpa and Dad._

 _"I like how I can be the one who helps her when she needs it." he smiled back down at his "little brother", he was a tall tanned man from Vacuo who visited Vale on what soon became a vacation of a lifetime. "There are very few who can truly lend a shoulder to cry on when it comes to your ultra-cool sister, and I'm happy to be that man!"_

 _"Woah, you're so cool! But if I had my way big sis would never be sad!" he shouted, pumping a fist into the air as Amar laughed heartily._

 _"Yeah, you and me both kiddo." Amar raised his head as Jaune's dad and grandpa came over to them. "Oh hey Nicholas, I was just telling Jaune about how great it is being Bianca's husband."_

 _Jaune's dad chuckled. "Yeah yeah kiss-up, don't think you're scoring points in my book just cause you got our naive little Jaune wrapped around your finger."_

 _"Dad! Don't talk about big bro like that!" Jaune whined as he stepped in between them, there was a moment of silence before the three older men burst into uninhibited laughter._

Jaune woke up blearily as his scroll vibrated loudly against his head, he needed to get up earlier than anyone else if he was going to get ready without everyone else annoying him. He picked up some of the things he would need and lumbered towards the door where a half-conscious Petunia and overly-conscious Oobleck stood slumped and at attention respectively near the door.

"My boy, I'm assuming you wish to evade the stampede of females when the normal wake up call is announced?" Oobleck whispered quickly, making her words come out in a near hiss.

"Yeah, the sooner the better." she hummed and opened the door letting him through. He stepped out into the hallway and almost immediately shuddered, _do they not have heating in this damn building?_

He quickly power-walked his way through the hallway and into the locker room where he got undressed for his shower. He let the warm water cascade down his body, a good hot shower did wonders for the mind sometimes. He breathed, _I need to start this day off on the right foot, if I don't make a good impression now then it will be that much more of a pain to take care of later on._

Part of him wanted to cry at the fact he was going to be put on a four man team, and he wanted to throw up at the possibility that they were some of his fangirls. God forbid that, he'd end it before the end of the first semester. Cracking his neck loudly he stepped out of the shower and dried off, with a towel around his waist he made his way over to some left out clothes. He quickly began to dress himself but before he could get his pants on all the way, he heard something from the side like a soft thunk and he turned towards the sound.

 _Fuck me._ Pyrrha stood there dressed in her pajamas as she her eyes kept widening until he thought they would pop out of her skull. He needed to diffuse the situation fast, he could feel it in his bones that this was going south faster than a Vacuan Spring Break.

"Ugh, good morn-" before he could finish she screeched like she was being murdered, _ok, really not used to being around men._ She cut herself off with a hand to her mouth as she turned red from embarrassment.

"Oh god! I-I'm so so sorry!" she tried to explain but he held up a hand as he finished putting his pants back on.

"Don't worry it's fine, let's just hope you didn't wake anyone up." she nodded sheepishly. "Let me guess, Petunia and Oobleck let you through without telling you I was in here?"

She nodded sheepishly as Jaune's eye ticked horrendously. _I ask for one thing, and they fuck it up._

"Well I'm done so you can-" the door burst open with enough force to almost knock it off her hinges as the a SWAT Team-style raid began on the locker room. A mass of yellow burst through the door and rolled between them.

"Stop where you are Arc!" Yang shouted putting herself protectively between Pyrrha and himself. "You stay right there while we get the teachers."

If there was a camera in the room he would have looked straight into it, deadpan expression. "Look Yang, I didn't do anything I was in the shower-"

"So you thought you would expose yourself to her then? I should have known." alright, that's where he drew the line.

"No dammit! Look ask her!" he shouted, tics in full swing right now. He wasn't sure if that drove his statement home or made him look like a psychopath, maybe both.

"Did he do anything to you?" Yang asked caringly, it made him want to throw up. "You can tell me."

"N-no! He's right, it was my fault I burst in and he was getting changed." Jaune mouthed an exasperated "thank you" and turned to the door. Big, ginger, and ugly stood their with her posse and behind her he could see even more.

"What?" he asked scathingly, Winchester looked behind her and sneered.

"You're screwed, that's what." Suddenly, Oobleck and Port entered into the locker room to asses the situation. Both tried to keep straight faces but they soon began to giggle and snort.

"Oh, so that was your joke of the day." Jaune grit out in annoyance, at that they devolved into full-blooded laughter.

"W-We d-didn't think she would scream like _that_!" Port choked out between laughing sobs, Pyrrha progressively got redder and Jaune just rolled his eyes. After Qrow took to training him she liked to tell the staff he was a sucker for practical jokes, which was true. Despite his sharp demeanor and undoubted intellect, the guy couldn't see a prank if it was right in front of him. It was annoying but never anything too damaging, but this was not exactly what he had in mind for a good start.

The lights flickered overhead and Oobleck's and Port's laughter ceased. They looked, wide-eyed at Jaune before coughing to themselves and ushering everyone out so he could finish getting changed. Neither of them wanted to explain to Ozpin, or worse Glynda, why Jaune had shorted out the power once again over their stupid pranks, last time Glynda threatened to tie their tubes using telekinesis which set them straight.

Jaune came out in his usual attire he got from Qrow, and swept past the waiting girls. Some were blushing, some were giggling, and others were glaring at him but he couldn't care less, what he needed right now was-

0-0-0-0

Coffee, sometimes his most hated enemy and other times a gift from the gods. Today, it was a gift from the lords above as he peacefully sipped from a small Beacon cup as he chewed on his omelette. He sat mostly alone like usual, but his sparce company wasn't quite what he desired.

"So then there was this big Ursa! I'm talking like a Queen Ursa! And there were four of them!" shouted what he could only described as a pink-haired valkyrie sent to punish him for his misdeeds. Throughout breakfast she had pestered him with these tales and sucked down more pancakes than he thought the cafeteria had made in their kitchens!

"There wasn't even one Nora." muttered her Green-themed companion Lie Rin, a Mistrali if he had to guess. "And please, he's had a rough morning so avoid bothering him."

Finally, thank the gods above! An angel sent down to bless him with a modicum of space and sense! Lie Rin was who he wanted for a partner, someone with a stoic attitude and predisposition for silence would do wonders alongside a lone wolf like him.

"Ok Rinny, but that I still have one more story! Remember that time we..." Jaune tuned her out as he looked at Rin, she just stared back and seemed to pass on a shrug through her gaze. Well, atleast she tried; he sighed as he finished up his food and sipped his coffee maybe this day wasn't completely ruined after all.

He looked around and saw Pyrrha swarmed by more fans than him, atleast he had scared off some prospective people with a glare and a frosty attitude. Yang was keeping her sister away from Jaune as well so no Ruby either, he didn't understand her problem with him. Weiss, well, the less said about her the better. The big ugly ginger chick, Winchester, had been whispering about him to the other students resulting in a few glares.

0-0-0-0

Jaune strolled down the locker rows trying to find his, it seems he couldn't shake his issue with losing things. He sighed once again, a habit more involuntary than his twitching, as he made another round. He saw Weiss and Pyrrha "talking", really it seemed to be a one-sided conversation with Weiss trying to get into her good graces, he looked her up after the locker room incident and found out she was quite famous. He could feel for her, what she wanted; she was a superstar champion that came all the way from Mistral to escape her fans but just found more here, and that was something he could sympathize with.

"Hey Pyrrha, I need some help." he grumbled, cutting off Weiss's daydream or something. Said Weiss spun around and seemed caught between trying that same popularity talk with him and scolding him for interrupting her.

"What is it Jaune?" she asked before Weiss could say anything, he could see some relief in her eyes and Jaune was pleased he got his hunch right.

"Can you take a look at this? It says 636 but I can't find it." he asked, she took the paper, looked at her locker, thought for a moment, and pointed down the rows where the duo of Ruby and Yang stood there. He sighed, again, and thanked her for the help, but before he could go Weiss stepped in seeing her chance.

"Excuse me Jaune, I was just talking with Pyrrha about team assignments," Jaune's disinterested and borderline glaring look didn't deter her. "And I was wondering if you would consider joining with Pyrrha and I, with our combined power we could easily rule the school."

Jaune twitched slighlty before putting on an overly sweet smile, he leaned in and near whispered. "Listen to me Weiss, I'd sooner eat my own hand and go home to my parents than ever consider joining a Schnee in anything. Schnee's are cruel, arrogant, gold-digging mafia-style criminal fucks hiding behind Atlas corporate laws to exploit innocent faunus."

Weiss looked dumbstruck but before she could say anything he finished. "I don't deal with criminals, and since I am neither stupid nor greedy your honeyed words won't do shit to me." he looked at Pyrrha who stood awkwardly between the two like a friend caught in a fight between his friend and their parents. "I'll see you around Pyrrha."

He turned around just in time to hide another tic and walked over to his locker near Yang and Ruby. When they saw him approach Ruby looked excited while Yang scowled at him, she checked behind him to one Weiss Schnee who seemed to have stopped working for a moment.

"What did you do Weiss-cream?"

"Nothing, just told her how I feel." he smiled but it did not reach his eyes and Yang smirked.

"Can't say she didn't have it coming," she looked him up and down for a moment. "Ok so I don't like or trust you as far as I can throw you, but your Ruby's first friend so I'm willing to let this try and work. But, if you hurt Ruby, I will break you in half got it?"

"Do you think your childish threats intimidate me?" he asked sincerely, she growled but said nothing and left grumbling something to Ruby.

She looked back at him apologetically. "Sorry, she used to take care of me when we were kids so she is kind of protective. I'm sure you have someone back home like that who acts that way around you?"

"No... I wish I did." his lips thinned Ruby took it as a sign to check her words from here on out. "Don't worry kid, but I need to grab Tesla Sting real quick." he quickly equipped it and walked with her to the bullhead docks.

"So, you anxious for initiation?" he asked her, she seemed to contemplate the question before shrugging.

"Eh, I'm not worried about the actual initiation but what if we get our teams today?" she said, slowly devolving into the worrying Ruby he had come to know.

"Don't sweat about it kid, you need to find someone who likes you for you." he tried to smile at her but he felt it came out a little forced. If he was being honest, he kind of felt nervous about the whole thing too, but perhaps not for the same reasons.

They boarded the bullheads quickly and everyone got situated, Ruby stayed by him as she couldn't find Yang. Meanwhile, Yang was seething as she spied on the two waiting for Jaune to make some move. But, despite being so close to her perfect little sister, he wasn't doing anything; in fact, which was kind of offending her, he looked like he was trying not to throw up.

"Ugggghhhh." Jaune groaned, one hand muffling the sound as Ruby inched slightly away from him. "Don't worry squirt, I won't vomit on you."

That was true, he hadn't vomited on a bullhead ride in years, ever since his mother wanted to curb that habit, but that didn't mean he didn't get sick as a dog on them. He prayed for the ride to take less time than he despaired that it would, but no such luck as he was stuck in a hellish vomitey purgatory for almost 30 minutes. _Oh boy, and when we're done doing this I get to enjoy another trip!_

Thankfully, the bullhead landed soon after and he stumbled out while leaning slightly on Ruby. When his feet touched down he had to resist the urge to kiss the solid surface as he had done multiple times before. The teachers directed them over to some kind of pads and the students took their places on them, Jaune had a sinking feeling in his stomach and that was never good news.

Headmistress Ozpin strode onto the grassy hill sipping her customary cup of coffee. "Students, today you are gathered for Beacon's honorary initiation rights as hundreds have done before you. I would like to put some questions to rest at this moment: yes, you are getting your teams today."

Ruby whined at that but she continued. "Furthermore, your partner for the rest of the year will be the first person you make eye contact upon landing. And that brings me to my next point, your task will be to brave the Emerald Forest and retrieve some relics from within a temple at the center."

 _Landing?_ Jaune questioned in his mind, but he kept listening. "You will take these relics and return at a point transmitted to your scrolls so please remember to keep them about you. I wish you all good luck."

At that moment screams could be heard as, at the end of the row, a student was sprung from his pad and sent hurtling through the air at breakneck speeds. _Oh you son of a bitch Ozpin_ he looked back at her half disgusted and half exasperated, she looked at him, smiled, and shrugged her shoulders then returned to sipping her coffee.

Soon enough he felt something under his pad click and he was sent on his way through the sky. _Yep, that about sums this whole day up_ he looked down at the rapidly approaching ground and unsheathed Tesla Sting. He flicked it into its spear form and shifted himself so he was aimed at the treeline, _I need to hook onto a tree and use the brush as a cushion._ Of course no plan survives contact with the enemy wholly, he slammed into the trees and branches and, while his aura soaked up a lot of damage, he could not see very well.

He shot Tesla Sting out hoping for it to catch something and it did, he carved a swatch down a very large tree's trunk making a splintering noise as he descended to the forest floor. Once more on solid ground this time he really did kiss it, he would have taken air sickness over terminal velocity any day. Now firmly on the ground he inspected his surroundings, _trees, trees, and more trees_ he heard the rustling and crackling of leaves and twigs nearby _and Grimm of course._

He sped off in the general direction -atleast he hoped- of the temple, if he was being chased by Grimm then he needed a more open area. As the surrounding thicket slowly gave way to a more grassy hillside he could hear the distinct _pop! pop! pop!_ of gunfire somewhere to his east, he contemplated, briefly, just to keep running and let whoever that was deal with it on their own. Unfortunately, his good side won out and he made for the unknown gunman who was currently engaged in what was possibly a life-or-death fight, the gunshots got louder as he closed in.

Deftly jumping over a small knoll he slid down the side of it and came to a clearing mostly surrounded by tall grass. In the middle he saw what could not have been anything other than a King Taijitu currently in combat with his classmate.

"Rin!" he shouted, shifting Tesla Sting back into his railgun form before taking aim. King Taijitu were fast and had a second head, if he could get a single shot in that would cripple the beast, at least partially. "Keep it still!"

Rin nodded from the clearing and forced it back with an aura-enhanced punch. The beast swung its massive head around, hissing and the impudent creature that harmed it before turning towards a new sound. Tesla Sting's dust chamber whirred and cycled as the shot began to charge, the King Taijitu, noticing fully the presence of Jaune, began to make its way over to him but was intercepted by Rin.

Rin fired a volley of shots into the beast's hide causing it to flinch and hiss in anger, it diverted its attention back to Rin giving him full view of the creature's exposed neck and head. Sensing the shot was strong enough, Jaune pulled the trigger and a blinding beam of blue energy exploded forth from the gun, it screamed through the air as the Grimm, sensing the attack, tried to dodge but was too late. The shot hit its mark dead center and the beast's head caved in, the burning energy cauterizing the creature's brain into mush and exploding out the other side of its ruined head.

Jaune breathed a short sigh of relief, the other head would rear up any second. "Rin, get ready it ain't dead yet!"

"I know, it won't fall for the same trick twice!" she yelled back, that was true. King Taijitu, while being Grimm and thus mostly mindless, had the capacity to learn from attacks that killed its other half. Sure enough, the white head slithered into view, roaring and hissing over the corpse of its companion before shooting towards Jaune. He rolled out of the way and shifted his weapon into Tesla's sword form and dragging it along the passing scales. The Grimm screeched as Rin closed in on the other side, firing a barrage before slicing apart the other side with the bladed smgs she had.

It whirled back around and went in for a headbutt at Jaune, he was unable to escape in time and caught the blow full force. He felt the air push out of his lungs as he flew backwards into the brush.

"Jaune!" he heard Rin shout but he was out of reach, the creature roared in satisfaction before turning back to Rin. Jaune, who still had his sword gripped tightly, wheezed as he got up, he felt the head-splitting ache of something in his chest. The goddamned thing had cracked one of his ribs, but his aura would be able to repair it fully in due time. Jaune hobbled his way back towards the fighting before trying to speed up and ignore the pain in his abdomen, he came upon Rin and the King Taijitu locked in deadly combat. The creature hissed and charged straight at Rin, fangs sharpened and ready to split the girl in half, but, just as it closed it, Rin's aura flared and she deftly punched a fang out of the creature's mouth.

Jaune gaped as grabbed said fang, and with a spin, drove the fang home into the Grimm's eye before sending an aura pulse into it. There was a ripple through the creature's head before it popped showering gore and Grimm blood all over the area.

Jaune whistled as he walked out the brush. "Damn Rin you don't hold back?"

"No, then I would die." she stated simply, he snorted at her bluntness but he was ok with this partnership. "I see that we are partners then."

"Yes, Jaune Arc of course." he said, she nodded and introduced herself, formally, as Lie Rin.

"Well, before I got turned around I'm pretty sure the temple was that." he said pointing in the direction he was facing, she nodded and they walked through the brush. Their walk had been mostly peaceful, occasionally they'd slaughter some beowulves but for the most part they crept through the underbrush without saying a word. Jaune had gotten his training in stealth from Qrow - _There's no problem you can't run away from Jaune!_ \- but he was impressed by whatever Rin had done to garner such a knowledge of stealth tactics.

Pocketing the thought for later their walk was interrupted by the feeling of the earth quaking like a Goliath Alpha had seemingly sprung up from nowhere. He swiveled his head around trying to find the source, he began to panic as, in the distance, a horrid maniacal screeching seemed to echo out of the woods.

"We need to move! Now!" he shouted turning to his partner who he expected to see ready for action. Instead, she looked very tired like a mother being fed up with their rebellious teenage child. "Rin, what is this?!"

"It's-"

"Rinny!" the final explosion sounded in time with her shout as Nora Valkyrie descended from the heavens, another person in a headlock to keep her from flying away. "I finally found you!"

She landed gracefully with her partner still clasped in her arm in front of Rin. She dropped her unfortunate partner and skipped towards Rin with a bright, cheery smile plastered to her face. She put her in a bone-crushing hug and then transformed her cheery smile in an adorable pout. "You didn't make the signal Rinny!"

"Sorry Nora." Rin sighed, obviously not apologetic. "Anyways, is your partner ok?"

"But hey! Atleast you got Jauney!" she shouted, ignoring Rin's question and skipping over to Jaune. _Oh god please no_ before he could react she put him in an even _more_ bone-crushing hug than Rin's!

"Nora, you're crushing him."

"Oh yeah! I need to introduce you to my partner!" she cried, once again ignoring Rin, and holding up her broken partner... Dressed almost all in white and holding a rapier. Weiss shook her head and shoved Nora off of her.

"Rin please! I will do anything to trade partners!" she begged, then turned to who Rin's partner was.

"Oh fuck."

 _Oh fuck._

0-0-0-0

After a very... tense... walk to the temple they arrived relatively unscathed and only slightly mentally harmed. Weiss and Jaune did not talk to eachother and filled the gap between them with their respective partners.

 _Man fuck today, this could not get any worse._ he sighed, no use in complaining now. Who knows, maybe they _wouldn't_ end up on a team together, but knowing Ozpin she would do for sick kicks. He tried not to imagine what Qrow would say about teaming up with a Schnee, he always half-doubted his words on them but this turned out to be another example of why he should never doubt Qrow's wisdom.

They halfheartedly followed Nora who picked up a rook piece and began to dance around singing "I'm Queen of the castle!". _Ignore it, and maybe it will go away_ yeah, that was wishful thinking. He picked up a rook piece of his own and pocketed it as did Weiss and Rin, he wanted this day to be over just so he could head down to the Crow Bar and get smashed.

Suddenly, they could hear a familiar hissing, chittering sound from the woods, and at the same time, another, more avian sounding roar echoed in the skies to the East of them. Without warning, Yang and Ruby dashed forth from woods at breakneck speeds like their life depended on it, and it very well did if the massive Deathstalker behind them was anything to go by.

"Oh boy." he muttered, pulling out his weapon and stepping forward from the temple, his teammates did the same and soon they stood ready to intercept the creature. "Guys! Over here!"

Ruby nodded and sped towards them leaving Yang to catch up. "Ruby!" she shouted angrily before dodging a pincer attack from the massive creature behind her, Jaune mecha-shifted his sword into a railgun and fired a single shot into the Deathstalker's hide.

There was the sound of meat sizzling and the angry roar of the Deathstalker, but it did not seem to be entirely fazed by the attack. "Oh dear, this might be harder than I thought."

Yang returned to the fight and shot a volley of shells into the creature, and as if things couldn't get worse, as his team as well as Ruby and Yang laid into the Deathstalker's armor, a horrific caw sounded from nearby. He shifted his attention over to the other side of the clearing where Pyrrha and some Black-haired girl that he vaguely remembered seeing from before. And, of course, behind them was a massive Nevermore; silver lining though, he could easily kill that thing given a decent shot on it Pyrrha and her partner engaged the creature as they made their way towards the rest of them.

"We need a better position!" shouted Weiss, who was currently launching icicles into the creature's carapace to little effect. "There's a larger structure to the north of here we need to move!"

As much as he hated to say it she was right, this was not a good defendable position. "Nora! Rin! Cover our retreat from the deathstalker! Yang, you cover us from the Nevermore! Everyone else move it!"

He fired a shot at the Nevermore that barely grazed it, it wasn't all that wounded but it certainly had its attention on Jaune. Nora and Rin engaged the deathstalker, he was hoping a tank like Nora could tough it out while Rin was too graceful to be caught. Still, he wasn't one to waste time so he ordered a full retreat to their little group of hunters-in-training.

0-0-0-0

Jaune dashed across the bridge, both of his brand-new friends hissing and cawing as they chased after his team and comrades. They had made it to the structure, just barely, and now he needed a plan. He saw the stone spire and large bridge connecting the structure to the land and he got an idea-

"Weiss, Rin, Nora, with me! We're taking on the Nevermore from the tower!" he turned to see Pyrrha and her team on the bridge. "You guys fight the deathstalker! Use its weight to your advantage!"

That tactic was an old favorite of Qrow's, she gained some amusement on tormenting the creatures so she would lure massive deathstalker's into places that their weight would collapse or otherwise incapacitate them. He never found it entertaining as much because he was usually the bait to reel them in.

He, alongside his team, clambered up the spire to get a better vantage point. Their feathered friend followed them up, shooting its spiky feathers into the structure and nearing goring Weiss and Rin multiple times. They got near the top and Jaune turned to Nora-

"Blast a hole and give us some cover!" he said, she saluted and broke a whole in the wall giving her an unobstructed view of their adversary. He turned to Rin and saw her already alongside Nora, _good, she'll cover her while she reloads._

Weiss and Jaune exited the spire at its peak and were caught in the open wind. "Weiss, I need to charge for a moment you'll have to buy time with whatever you can do."

"Hmmph, you're lucky this is essential to my survival." she turned away mumbling something about taking orders from Jaune to which he rolled his eyes. _Schnees, just like how Qrow said._

She opened up a few glyphs as Jaune turned Tesla Sting into a railgun. He needed this shot to have an extra punch so he turned on the dust reactor's secondary mode, he focused and lit his aura around him. From almost nowhere clouds appeared in a radius around the tower, despite the size of it thunder roared overhead as Jaune grit his teeth in concentration. Sweat dripped down his face as he tried to power his aura into something useful, he could feel it building overhead, so close yet maybe not coming in enough time.

"Dammit all!" he shouted, he tried to think of things that brought up memories. Images flashed in his head almost without warning, for he had opened the floodgate.

 _-His mother's disapproving glare when she caught him playing outside instead of reading on Atlas's "rich history"-_

 _-The god awful dinners between his mother and father and his in-laws, the Goldmines-_

 _-The night of the party, where he discovered his power and being swept away by the Atlas military-_

 _-Gritting out those lies Ironwood printed on the cards-_

 _-Punching Nicholas square in the jaw-_

He roared mightily as the clouds overhead finally gave way as a spear of lightning crashed into the tower. It struck Jaune dead center and his aura began to work overtime in sucking it all up like a sponge. He didn't hear Weiss's scream of surprise nor did he see her go careening of the side of the tower, she was saved only by her glyphs as she created pads to land on before jumping inside with Nora.

Jaune was deaf to all this as he channeled the garnered energy straight into his gun's reactor, the entire device glowed an eerie blue and loud sounds of gears whirring as well as more electrical sparking could be heard. He hefted Tesla Sting into his arms and aimed at the gargantuan demon, it circled overhead, apparently too scared to get within range of the lightning, but he needed for it to stop moving.

As if reading his thoughts Nora fired another volley of grenades which exploded around the creature. It gave an indignant screech and stopped to chuck its own volley of feathers into the gap. _Now!_ he shouted mentally as he hefted his gun into the line of the Nevermore.

He squeezed the trigger and time seemed to slow, the blast barreled out of the gun in a long beam of blue light. It tore through the air incinerating any debris or small insect foolish enough to get in its way, the Nevermore had not time to react and the blast hit its wings at an angle and passed through to carve a swath through its chest. The creature screeched like nothing he had ever heard before and lifelessly fell into the cavernous pit below. As he watched it fall to its death he spared a look over at Pyrrha's team, they had collapsed the bridge and used its weight to send it squealing into the darkness alongside its dying friend.

He got down along with his team, too tired to do much than lifelessly walk like a doll with them. He didn't notice the glares Weiss gave them or the glances Rin made between the two or the worried comments Pyrrha and her team made. He was honestly ready for the bullhead ride home...

0-0-0-0

"Cressida Winchester, Russet Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark, you will henceforth be known as Team CRDL (cardinal) led by Cressida Winchester!" Headmistress Ozpin announced causing the rest of the auditorium to cheer and clap.

Jaune, Weiss, Nora, and Rin took the stage with the second of them positively beaming at the opportunity to become team leader. Ozpin looked all of them over before smiling and announcing their team.

"Jaune Arc, Weiss Schnee, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Rin, you have retrieved the black rook pieces and shall henceforth me known as Team ARSN (Arson) led by Jaune Arc!" Jaune soaked in that information bit by bit, if he took it in all at once he would either faint or cause a blackout. Weiss looked like she was going to do much of the same as she swiveled her head, unbelieving, between Ozpin and Jaune. Nora and Rin took it all in stride as the auditorium clapped once more as they left the stage.

"Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, Yang Xiao-Long, and Blake Belladonna, you retrieved the white knight pieces and shall henceforth be known as Team RYBN (Ribbon) led by Ruby Rose!" Yang and Pyrrha congratulated Ruby while Blake looked indifferent. They returned to their seats as Goodwitch informed them all of their dorm rooms (Team ARSN was room 775 while Team RYBN was 776).

They returned to their dorms and, while RYBN went about getting to bed, Jaune began to unpack his things. The air grew uncomfortably quiet, _yeah, that's how I thought it was going to go._

"Look, I know this is bad. I am in no way competent enough to be a team leader, it should have been Weiss." Jaune, even though he did not like Weiss, could tell this whole team's dynamic has been thrown off. "I'm not sure if I can make this work, but I suppose we have no other choice."

Weiss didn't say anything but just unpacked, not looking at him at all as Rin silently nodded.

"Oh don't worry fearless leader! I'm sure you'll do just great!" Jaune snorted to himself but there was no humor in it, _yeah, sure kid whatever you say_ he set his alarm clock for 7:45 AM and fell into his bed, uniform ready for tomorrow...

0-0-0-0

 **Hey guys I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Maybe you weren't expecting these teams huh? Well suffice to say there is a deeper meaning to all this other than a cheeky name, and you've seen a little bit of it at the end. I'll get to writing the next chapter of this soon and I hope you won't mind waiting for a bit. Thanks for the support guys!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	6. Something to Take the Edge Off

**Hello everyone, here I am with another chapter. I know some of you are surprised at the team pairing but it all has its reasons. Anyways, the school year is starting and that means interactions between his team. And even though things might get a little rough, don't worry this isn't a Weiss-bashing fic it's just a rocky start. Also, you may see Jaune get a little more comfortable around his teammates as the year progresses, my advice is to just sit back and wait a bit before you start commenting on his behavior.**

 **With that, please enjoy the chapter.**

0-0-0-0

Jaune woke up to the buzzing of his alarm, his dreams had been, thankfully, barren of anything worth remembering so he took that as a sign of a good day. He lazily sat up, taking a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before surveying the room. The shower was on with someone inside it, and considering Rin was gone from his bed, he assumed it was Rin. Weiss and Nora were still both asleep, with Nora's blankets being completely missing and Weiss looking like she was corpse from how still she was, so he decided to get together his uniform and knock on the shower door.

"Rin? You almost done?" he asked quietly, not wanting to wake his teammates.

"Yes, just give me another minute." came the soft reply from inside, he shrugged and sat down on his bed for a moment, looking through his scroll. His expression went sour at the fact he was having Port at 9:00 in the morning and then Oobleck almost immediately after. Sighing he tried to sit still while waiting for his shower, but the silence was interrupted by Weiss slowly awakening.

"Huh, wha- ughhhh." she groaned as she woke up groggily, he chuckled slightly and the prim heiress so disoriented.

"Good morning sunshine." he said, she groaned in distaste before fully sitting up.

"Whatever, who's in the shower?"

"Rin, and I got next."

"Hmmm, fine." she conceded getting her uniform from their dorm closet, suddenly Jaune's scroll pinged with a message notification.

 _Jaune, how are my neices doing? Did they do ok during initiation? -Qrow._

Jaune sighed as he typed back a reply. _Yes Qrow they're fine, Yang is annoying but Ruby is on a team with her. She even made team leader. -Jaune_

 _That's good, and don't let Yang get to you. That's how she wins. Enjoy Port and Oobleck sucker! -Qrow_

Jaune growled as he snapped his scroll shut, it'd be just like Qrow to antagonize him this early in the morning.

"What's wrong with you now?" asked Weiss, annoyed at his mood.

"Nothing, we got our first class at 9 so make sure you're ready."

"Whatever _team leader._ " he tic'd slightly but hid it, he knew this team was a bad idea.

Rin came out, towel wrapped around her but Jaune ignored it. He grew up with seven sisters _and_ had Qrow as his mentor, he's gone far past the realm of being embarrassed by scantily clad women. He took his uniform into the shower and let the remaining hot water run down him, Weiss would throw a fit if there was none left so he made sure to get out in time.

He shrugged on his uniform, much too used to wearing already, and moved to wake Nora up seeing as she was still comatose.

"Nora, wake up you need to get ready." he said, shaking her slightly.

"Ugh, Jaune I would not recommend-" it was only through hours of hard training that Jaune managed to miss the fist that Nora shot out at his face, he jumped back on instinct and looked to Rin for answers.

"Yeah, she is kind of a strange sleeper. It'd be best if you let me handle waking her up from now on." Rin said apologetically, well far be it from him to decide her job. The rest of the morning went relatively normal, save for the fact Nora without her morning pancakes is something to watch out for. And soon enough Team ARSN was on their way to the cafeteria.

"Oh, before I go." he knocked hard against RYBN's dorm door and, after various sounds of thumping and slurred curses, a very groggy Yang opened it almost a minute later.

"What?" she asked, slightly frazzled and more than slightly annoyed by being woken up.

"The fact it is 8:25 right now and our first class is at 9 is what." he responded curtly, seriously did they expect him to mother them all year? Sighing as Yang practically screamed at her team to wake up right now he left with his team.

"They seem rather disorganized." commented Weiss with a backwards glance.

"Yeah, well they better _get_ organized lest they fail their first semester." she nodded but didn't say anything, the only reason he was helping them out was because they were new students. He wasn't going to be there to tie their shoe laces when they trip, and if they can't learn that then what good are they here. They're going to get hurt.

The only reason.

Team ARSN walked down the corridor in almost complete silence, save for Nora humming a tune to herself that he saw Weiss find quite annoying. _This team is a grenade with the pin pulled_ he though to himself, when he could talk to Ozpin he was going to headbutt her for such a stupid choice. The team walked down the corridor and rounded the corner to get to the exit, as they approached they heard something strange.

Laughing, or giggling more like coming from behind them. Weiss turned around to see a small group of girls huddled around another girl who was blushing bright red, with some whispered encouragement she skittered over to Team ARSN and more specifically their leader.

"H-Hi Jaune. I-I'm Rosemary LeRoux and I was just wondering you, like, wanted to hang out sometime?" she kept her eyes to the ground, probably for the better given Jaune's blank stare, before he answered.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to decline. I don't date." she looked up sadly before trying a different approach.

"W-Well maybe I could get your number then? Or you could get mine? I mean we're in the same 4th hour-"

"No, that's final. I don't date huntresses, I'm not interested in sharing myself with anyone over some stupid attraction to my aura, I'm not dumb enough to believe your little club of fangirls are after me for my personality. Good day." he hissed before leaving, Rosemary standing there forlornly as she trotted back to her team who took her back in with sympathetic words.

"Everything ok Jaune?" Rin asked, shifting her gaze from the girl to her leader.

"Peachy Rin, let's go." Rin and Weiss shared a look but didn't say anything.

0-0-0-0

"Rin, can you, in any way, get Nora to stop?" asked Weiss as she rested her head in her hand.

Rin shrugged slightly, most likely far to used to her behavior. "Sorry but no. Nora gets like this every morning so I apologize for the inconvenience."

"-And then there was this massive beowolf that was about to chow down on this little group of villagers. And they were all like ' _Help us brave Nora!_ ' so I swooped on there to save the lot with my trusty hammer-"

"Goddammit." He breathed, and of course they had Port almost immediately after. Tales from the second years and even the third years tell of the great beast that is Petunia Port and her legendary lack of need for air.

He watched halfheartedly as Team RYBN crashed through the front door and charged through the breakfast line to pick out whatever. It did garner some amusement to see Pyrrha trying to control her group like a mother controlling restless kids.

"So Jaune, you know what Professor Port is like I assume?" Rin asked as she delicately at her food, Jaune nodded although somewhat depressed.

"Yeah, prepare yourself by the way. If you think Nora talks a lot wait till you get a load of her." Rin nodded, looking completely unfazed but Weiss, for some reason, looked almost offended at that.

"How dare you talk about one of our professors that way?" she asked scathingly, Jaune did not so much look at her. "She has worked hard as a huntress and _earned_ her right to teach at this academy!"

"Yeah, wait until you meet her kid." snorted Jaune, Weiss huffed and the two went back to silence. Nora spared Rin a glance but she just shook her head, this was something they needn't be involved in.

The tense moment was interrupted by Team RYBN coming over to their table, a certain redhead looking rather frazzled.

"How's the team Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, clearly amused with it. Pyrrha took a moment to breath deeply before answering.

"They're... interesting to say the least. Quite a handful but I've grown rather accustomed to them so far." she said with a tired smile, Jaune looked over at her team -who was currently playing with eachother's food- and felt an unwelcome sensation bubble up from his stomach but he crushed before it could take root.

"Well, if it's any consolation, Professor Port's class is going to leave you a burning desire for something interesting." Jaune said vaguely, Pyrrha cocked her head but said nothing about it.

"Well well well. If it isn't our resident predator!" came a voice from behind them, big ugly and ginger was leering in behind them with her team. Cressida Winchester was taller than even Pyrrha and Jaune, and she also packed the muscle to back it up.

"What do you want?" Jaune said, not looking at them.

"Just wanted to say hi to my fellow team leader." she sneered but Jaune did nothing, Team RYBN and the remaining members of Team ARSN looked at her carefully.

"Back off Cressida, not in the mood." Cressida's sneer turned into a snarl.

"What was that you ant?"

"Back off, or I'm going to put that stupid ass look on your face through a table." Jaune got up suddenly and faced the mammoth woman, looking her square in the eyes. _No hesitation, if she punches first I'm going to send her to the ER._

The two looked like they were going to have a go at it but stopped when they heard the faint _click clack_ of heels on tile. Turning they saw a stern-looking Goodwitch enter the cafeteria, and zero in on the two facing eachother down.

"Watch your back Arc." snarled Cressida before stomping away with her troop. Conversation returned to relative normalcy but the two teams noticed that Jaune didn't touch his breakfast for the rest of the time.

The teams finished their breakfast -with Yang and Ruby messing with eachother and Weiss looking on in disgust- and they made their way toward Professor Port's.

 _Here's hoping Port isn't as bad as everyone says._

0-0-0-0

 _Well my hope has died horribly._

Port sat there talking about her grandmother and how she taught Port how slay Grimm in a spectacular fashion. She just droned on and on and on and by the 30 minute mark the class had tuned her out.

"-And then of course I faced the mighty boarbatusk using only my wits and my trusty boot. Which reminds me! I have captured a live boarbatusk to be used in a quick sparring match for today!" she finished with a cheer. "Now, any volunteers?"

Jaune did not feel like being involved in whatever comedy skit Port had planned for today so he wisely decided not to; however, that did not stop Weiss from raising her hand almost immediately.

"I'll do it professor!" she shouted.

"Excellent Miss Schnee! Excellent! Please, get your equipment and come back here for your fight." Weiss nodded and left and, maybe 10 minutes later, she returned with her gear and rapier.

In the time she was gone Port had taken out a large cage that growled and snorted angrily every so often. A pair of glowing red eyes hovered dangerously in the dark confines of the cage, but Weiss, to her credit, looked unperturbed as she readied her stance.

"Ok? Begin!" Professor Port shouted as she used her mighty blunderaxe to break open the cage's lock and the boarbatusk came rampaging out.

Weiss rolled out of the way of the initial charge and tried to go in for a piercing strike. _That's not going to work, the armor is too thick_ sure enough her rapier bounced off and the crafty Grimm caught it in its tusks. Weiss struggled against it but the boarbatusk quickly threw the weapon to the other side of the room.

"The belly has no armor!" Jaune lazily called out, she glared and him with gritted teeth but, using her glyphs as springboards, managed to retrieve her weapon. Thinking fast, the boarbatusk lunged towards but she jumped over it, using a glyph to knock it of balance, and used another glyph as a springboard to impale the creature.

Weiss sat there huffing and puffing to herself as Port clapped vigorously.

"Amazing! We are in the presence of a true huntress-in-training!" she said happily, Weiss nodded and returned her gear. Suddenly, the bell rang and Port shrugged it off.

"It seems we are out of time, please remember to read pages 10-27 for tonight and a short essay on it by tomorrow!" there were assorted groans but the class shuffled out anyway.

Jaune, Rin, and Nora caught up with Weiss outside the class who was still nursing her minor wounds.

"Are you ok?" Rin asked, looking for any major cuts.

"Are you kidding me Rinny? My partner is super strong!" Nora cheered, flexing her muscles for good measure.

"I'm fine thank you." she then turned her glare towards Jaune who didn't flinch a bit. "And you, what gives you the right to shout at me in the middle of a match?"

"I only did it to help, you would've been lying in a hospital bed if I had not given you that hint." Weiss growled and grit her teeth.

"No I wouldn't, you nagging nearly cost me that spar!" Jaune looked unperturbed by Weiss's outburst.

"You're angry at me for helping you because you wanted to be the leader?" Jaune said unenthusiastically, that made Weiss stop for a moment but it didn't make her any happier. "Well if you want to talk to Ozpin be my guest, you probably won't have much luck in the subject but just know I agree with you. I won't make a good leader."

Jaune walked off to their next class with Rin and Nora following him. Weiss looked around for a moment before deciding to take a different route, as she rounded the corner she bumped into Ozpin herself who was strolling down the hall.

"Headmistress Ozpin! Sorry about that!" Weiss apologized courteously.

"It's no problem Miss Schnee, but I sense something troubling you?" she asked, taking a sip of her mug.

"Well, it's just that ma'am- Why did Jaune become team leader!?" she didn't mean to semi-shout the last part but she did much to her surprise.

"Why wouldn't he be?" asked Ozpin, completely unfazed by her outburst.

"He's arrogant, cold, mean, confrontational, doesn't work well with others, and by his volition said he would not make a good leader!" she said, looking to the woman for help.

"I see, yes. Well Miss Schnee the reason we make certain people leaders is their ability to to grow as one." she sipper her mug. "Jaune hasn't had a particularly good life, for reasons I cannot explain to you, but we all sense a great potential in him."

"It isn't the staff favoring him that got him the leader position, for you see, here at Beacon we encourage all our students to grow in the areas we seem to think they fit the most. Mister Arc has the unprecedented potential to grow, with a mind like a tactician and the skills of a true warrior, he can become something incredibly great, but his biggest obstacle is his inability to communicate."

"His... inability to communicate?"

"Yes, Jaune has a severe distrust for those around him especially authority figures. His past would not let him forgive and forget so easily, so instead he became a very guarded and frigid person to be around. We brought together your team because your mission, hopefully from now on, is to get your leader comfortable with being around you all. Once you do that, I think you'll find that he's a much different person."

"O-Ok, but, if I may ask, what happened to him Headmistress?" Weiss asked tentatively, she always assumed he had that same ignorant hatred for Schnees like most faunus sympathizers.

She shook her head. "It's not my place to tell you, but I were to guess, I would say that getting him to tell you himself would be a good first step."

Weiss nodded and watched as Headmistress Ozpin walked off. "Get him to open up...?" she mumbled quietly before going to join her team in Professor Oobleck's class.

0-0-0-0

 **God guys I am so sorry about the short chapter. Honestly this one was kinda hard to write, I didn't want to reveal some of the things I was thinking of yet but this chapter needed to get out. Don't worry though, the next chapter will be much more rewarding and much better! Please be patient and bear with me for the time being.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	7. A Much Needed Session

**Ok, a much longer chapter than before guys. Sorry about that, I hope you are enjoying the story so far! It may be a chapter or two before Jaune really starts to get along with his team. But don't worry, I am working on the Team ARSN arc working out really quick here. So with that, this chapter will focus on the episode "Jaunedice" and possibly "Forever Fall".**

 **Enjoy**

0-0-0-0

 _"Jaune, know that your sisters and I will always protect you." Bianca said lovingly to her 9 year old brother. Jaune had ended up cornered by some bullies but his sisters got him out of it, and here they were, Bianca, Amber, and Melody, all surrounding him to make sure he was ok._

 _"Thanks big sis! You really are the coolest!" cheered Jaune with a smile on his face, if there was one pure, innocent thing in this world it was Jaune's smile. Bianca smiled and picked him up in a loving hug._

 _"We'll always be here you little brother."_

 _6 years later..._

 _"Do you remember telling me that Bianca?" Jaune hissed, eye twitching sporadically. "So what was that? A lie to make me feel better? Do you even care!?"_

 _"Of course I do goddammit!" Bianca was torn between wanting to hug her little brother and cry over that look of betrayal on his face. "I asked, and begged, and pleaded with mom and dad not to make you marry that bitch!"_

 _"Oh I bet! Don't try to talk me down, just like every other woman in history, you don't really care what happens to us men! You don't really cares what happens to me! As long as you can play the hero right?" Jaune shouted back, a furious look in his eye. "Fine, if that's how you want to play it then. Forget about coming back here to talk to me, because I don't ever want to see you again."_

 _Jaune left the house until he was sure Bianca was gone, uncaring about the look of utter horror and sadness on his eldest sister's face._

Jaune woke up, nearly a half hour earlier than his alarm, and he could tell already his face was wet. _Dammit, why do I always go and do that?_ shrugging off his blankets he turned to see his partner, Rin, getting ready for her shower.

"You were tossing and turning something awful last night Jaune." Rin said, not looking at him as she laid out her uniform. "Nora considered waking you up but Weiss decided against it."

"Yeah, well thanks." Jaune mumbled, he could feel it in his bones that this day was already off to a bad start. He let Rin into the shower first, and decided to spend the rest of the time getting ready. It had been just over three weeks since school started and today would be the day they were introduced into combat class with Miss Goodwitch, most students today would be on edge.

Jaune looked at the forms of his partner, Nora, and Weiss and thought back to Qrow's advice from when the school year drew closer upon them. He remembered asking her about what having a team means in terms of practical things like living space and classes, but also what it meant in terms of being together.

 _"Well kid you have to remember that, somewhere down the line, your teammate will end up saving your life. Whether out on a mission or by complete accident it's bound to happen, so my advice is: give them a good reason to save you."_

 _"A good reason?"_

 _"Yes, especially if you, somehow, god forbid, end up the leader. You will be tasked with the lives of your teammates directly so you must never give them a reason to doubt you, and if you do that they'll come to your rescue every time."_

 _"Hmmm."_

 _"Listen kid, like it or not, your team, no matter who they are, will be your pseudo-family for the rest of your life."_

...

" _God knows you need it..._ "

That conversation brought Jaune back to initiation, back to getting his team. He tried, and failed, to swallow the bitterness that arose when he thought back to when, in a craze as he tried to summon his semblance, he almost had gotten Weiss killed. She had lived because of her glyphs, but if it had been Nora, or Rin, or anyone else and they had died, where would that have left him?

How would he feel being on a team of people who saw him so carelessly throw away someone's life because he got sloppy. Would they come to his rescue when that time came?

Replacing the bitterness was his most hated emotion: shame. If Qrow had seen that fiasco, how he almost killed Weiss, she would have leveled him with that stare that reminded him so much of that disappointed look his mother used to give him.

"Jaune? You ok?" came the voice of Nora, somewhere along his brooding they had both woken up, Weiss and Nora, and now Nora stared at him with a somewhat concerned expression. Jaune sucked in a breath quietly, he didn't want to imagine what he probably looked like: a sour expression accented by a five o' clock shadow that probably made him look like a man about to pull the trigger.

"Nothing Nora, just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing."

"Well whatever 'nothing' is, stop thinking about it because it's something bound to drive you crazy." Nora nearly whispered, he heard that tone before, he wouldn't pry but she had known something similar.

Rin stepped carefully out of the bathroom and Jaune, as per usual, entered next and exited in a rapid blur. Before Weiss could try to get in Nora rushed past her, already back to her carefree mood, leaving them alone with only Rin as a third wheel.

"I'm going to step out for a moment ok?" Rin said, glancing between the two. She didn't say for what, but they could guess it was more for their sake than their own.

"... I'm sorry about initiation Weiss."

"What for exactly?"

"I nearly killed you on the tower, so I need to apologize for that." Weiss's expression was hard to read, but her face was cut from stone.

"And what if you had killed me then? Would you have cared then?"

"Yes."

"Why should I believe that?"

"I'm not heartless Weiss, you and I might not get along but we all have our own stories. If you had died I probably would have dropped out." That seemed to trip something in Weiss's brain because she returned his gaze.

"And what is your story then Arc?" it was Jaune's turn to harden his features.

"Why should I tell you?"

"I was talking with Headmistress Ozpin the other day, and she mentioned something about you." Jaune's gaze remained fierce but she pushed on, undaunted. "I called into question your ability to lead, and she responded with that you had your reasons to act the way you do."

"I do, and I'm sure Ozpin had the common sense not to say anything."

"She did, but she also asked for the rest of our team and I to get you to 'open up' in her own words."

"I'm not one to pour myself out just because Ozpin thinks I need a therapy session." Weiss flicked a small stray lock of hair from her face.

"I don't think that's what she meant at all, and trust me Jaune, I know what it's like to hold things close to your chest." Jaune's eyebrows raised an unspoken question. "My family may not have been the most stable, an emotional unstable mother who ran the world's largest Dust company, a father who was shoved aside for his much greater spouse-"

Something frightening flickered in Jaune's eyes but he consumed it before Weiss could fully read it.

"-And two daughters leaving to become huntresses which left a mostly uncared for youngest sister. It's not all roses Jaune, and I would appreciate it if you didn't act like it was."

Jaune almost laughed at that, but instead grunted something in approval. "You wanna know why I don't particular like, or trust, most _huntresses_?"

Weiss nodded and Jaune's smile looked slightly malicious. "It's because, as a superhuman warrior designed to fight monsters, all the fame and glory is heaped onto you people! Women, by association, command more power than the average male could ever hope to get. And where does that leave us, where did that leave _me_!"

Weiss flinched at the sudden crescendo in volume, Rin slipped into the room to make sure everything was alright but did not say a word, some time awhile ago the shower stopped. "I'll tell you where, it left me with a couple of gold-digging parents, a loveless marriage that would have produced unloved children, and an end for me spelled out in a lonely shot of whiskey and a loaded gun."

Weiss forced out the unpleasant imagery and tried to fill the heavy silence. "Ok, I get it, I get that you're upset. Neither of us had super amazing lives, but, if we're going to be on a team, Jaune, we need you to step up as a leader, even if you don't think you can."

 _Listen kid, like it or not, your team, no matter who they are, will be your pseudo-family for the rest of your life._

"Ok, fine. I'll do my best" Jaune whispered before checking his scroll. "Let's go down to breakfast guys, I think if we go fast we can -maybe- get some food before Nora takes it."

Rin bore a ghost of a smile on her thin lips, and Weiss nodded silently, seemingly content with the conversation so far, and, when they looked at the shower to find their third teammate, instead they found the door to the room swung wide open.'

"Dammit Nora."

0-0-0-0

"Aren't you guys so excited for combat class today!?" squealed Nora for what must have been the third or fourth time since breakfast, Weiss sighed and Rin looked tranquil, most likely used to the girl's antics the bastard, and Jaune tried to block a headache.

 _You said you would try Jaune, you said._ "Yes Nora, we're all excited, please, let us think on it for a moment."

"You got it fearless leader!"

Jaune sighed again as Team ARSN walked towards the big room that held the stage used for fighting in combat class. He had been there more than enough times in his year-long stay at Beacon, and he knew the rules as well as had sparred with some of the other students as well as Goodwitch.

He rarely won of course, but the experience counted as Qrow liked to tell him. They entered the double doors and took a seat near Team RYBN who had been there for some time before them.

"Weiss-cream! Jaune! How's the whole arson thing going for you guys?" Yang said to them, Weiss growled as Rin tried to ignore it.

"Xiao-Long, it is none of your business how our team goes for your information!"

"Woah, woah Weiss-cream. I was just asking since you have Captain Cold as your leader." Ruby tried to chide Yang for that but her lack of actual force hurt her more than helped her.

"Xiao-Long-"

"It's fine Weiss, you'll just spur her on." Jaune said, Weiss humphed and turned to face the stage, resolute to ignore the blonde bomber beside her.

Goodwitch walked her way onto the stage after the bell rang and proceeded to explain the rules to the class. Jaune knew them already so mostly tuned it out until she brought up the screen featuring the fight pairings.

"And for the first round we have... Jaune vs Cressida. Will both combatants take the stage with their gear?" There were some mild cheers for Cressida as she "bravely" got up and strut her way to the locker room.

When both fighters returned they stood on the wood stage and readied their weapons, honestly the woman looked like kind of a pushover. That stupid, clunky mace and that armor that must've weighed atleast a hundred pounds would be bad against someone like him.

"I'm going to enjoy breaking your bones you pervert." Jaune did not entertain her with a response and brought for Tesla Sting in all its glory.

"Woohoo! Go my fearless leader!" whooped Nora who was standing on top of the seats.

"You get 'er Jaune!" Ruby called out.

"Do your best Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted alongside her leader.

"Yeah, you got this." that last one came surprisingly from Weiss and she earned some teasing from Yang for it.

"Ready? 3... 2... 1... Go!"

Cressida roared as she slammed her mace down on where Jaune once was, he ducked out of the way and slashed her open back. _A poorly executed attack that left her open, she underestimated me_ Jaune thought, amused at her ignorance.

Cressida sputtered and whirled around going for a horizontal slash with her weapon. Jaune leaped back and, turning his sword into a railgun, fired a single bolt of energy which she blocked rather well. Still, he could see the shock transfer through the metal weapon and singe her fingers. It gave him an idea.

 _Been meaning to test it out on a real target_ Jaune shifted Tesla Sting back into his sword form and rushed her. Cressida smirked and raised her mace over her head and brought down, Jaune rolled at the last second and struck out with his foot. The blow caught her in the side of the head and she shrieked as she tumbled to the side, not letting up he dragged the sword in an upwards arc along her breastplate and shoulder sending her backward and sprawling onto her back.

Jaune went in for the so-called killing blow but, using his own moves against him, rolled to the side and whipped the mace right into his cheek. The lack of leverage kept his jaw unbroken but he went tumbling across the floor, not missing a beat Cressida fired up the crystal in her mace and sent a line of bright, hot fire right at him. He sidestepped it barely, just enough to singe his hair, and turned to face the charging boar in front of him.

Remembering one of the moves he and his old butler, Floyd, used to watch, Jaune sidestepped the charge like a true matador from one of those old Mistrali films and tripped her with a well-angled foot. Now flat on her stomach Jaune prepared to test out his unused function of Tesla Sting.

Jaune shifted him into his spear form and, with a click of a button, the blade split in two revealing a large taser. He couldn't resist the urge for a small joke when it came to this ape's misfortune-

"Clear!" he shouted as he plunged the electrifying staff on the girl's completely metal armor, she screeched like a banshee as the electricity delivered a sweet 1 million volt package right through her armor. He only kept the charge for a moment but it was more than enough, Cressida laid sprawled across the floor, jittering with electricity and maybe going into cardiac arrest?

Eh, he was sure she'd be fine.

"And that's the match folks, we have Beacon medical staff here to wheel away Miss Winchester for now." sure enough, two men in doctor's uniform came with a gurney and hefted the large woman with surprising ease before wheeling her out of the room. "Good job Mister Arc, but you did get overconfident in using the same skill over and over again which turned out to almost be your downfall."

Jaune nodded and went to go returned to his team and Team RYBN. When he got there he was treated with some voices, and some shouts, of approval and congratulations for winning the first match of the year.

Weiss huffed as she came up to him. "Look at you, you got careless and took that brute's blow right to the head. You're lucky you don't have much in there or we'd be in more trouble." she took out a pristine hankerchief and dragged it roughly along the side of his face, he hissed in pain and, when she brought it back, sure enough there was a trail of blood on it. He looked at it with disgust before pocketing it and shaking her head at him.

The rest of the class went pretty easy, Team CRDL went to go be with their leader and only Blake was called up for a match. Against some girl named Indigo that she easily mopped the floor with, Indigo could turn invisible for moments at a time but that meant nothing when Blake could let her shadow clones take the hit for her.

0-0-0-0

"... Now can anyone tell me the advantage the faunus had over General Lagune in the battle of Fort Castle?" Oobleck asked as she sped around the classroom in a green blur, nearly a year at Beacon and he could not, for the life of him, find out what unholy concoction existed in that infernal thermos of hers. However, he and Qrow both agreed that is was most likely illegal in Atlas, and probably originated in Vacuo.

The class had spent some time talking about the faunus wars several decades ago and it had turned into Oobleck diving into the controversial topic of race and the White Fang group. She had asked for a show of hands of how many faunus students had been discriminated against in their lives, unfortunately every faunus in the room had raised their hands.

Jaune liked to think Oobleck and the rest had raised him above such racist tendencies but it was obvious the still slightly spastic form of Cressida was not. Jaune caught her ugly sneer, especially at his old friend Velvet, he felt the urge to "accidentally" short out the lights above the big thug.

"The faunus could see in the dark due to their enhanced vision; Lagune knew this but still decided to attack at night." Blake piped up, he could still see Cressida glare at the girl but she continued. "In the end, his massive forces were routed because they couldn't see and Fort Castle remained under faunus control."

"Hmm, quite!" Oobleck said between another sip of her drink. "Would anyone else like to add anything? Miss Winchester?"

Cressida scoffed but still answered. "I-I know that i-it's easier to train an animal than a h-human."

Jaune couldn't help but sneer at her voice even as Pyrrha and Blake scowled. "How's your voice Cressida?" Jaune asked coyly, Cressida stood up abruptly looking to fight the young man.

"Miss Winchester, please sit down." Oobleck said tiredly, she then added on when she saw her secretly-favorite pupil snickering at the girl's misfortune. "And you Mister Arc, don't cause disruptions during class."

Jaune stopped laughing and returned his attention to his book and Cressida, though growling to herself like a pissed off Ursa, sat down as well. Jaune could feel the daggers she was glaring into his head but ignored it; as far as he was concerned, he had won this round.

The bell rang and, as the rest of the class stood up to leave, Oobleck called for Jaune and Cressida to stay.

"Mister Arc, Miss Winchester, I would appreciate it if you would curb these childish arguments in the middle of class. It has only been three weeks and I will tell you now that I will not tolerate it any further." Oobleck adjusted her glasses. "Miss Winchester, due to your lackluster performance in class please read pages 57-91 and submit a report of it by next class. Mister Arc, I would like for you to stay behind so we may talk for a moment."

As Cressida left grumbling Jaune turned to look at his teacher. "Professor-"

"Doctor, and I asked you to stay because I worry for your team cohesion." Oobleck said as she took a sip of her coffee before deciding to leave it on the desk. "I understand you, as a person, are not easy to get along with and probably doubted your ability to lead."

"Yeah well, there were problems at first. Still are. But I- We've started to work them out a little bit."

"As in?"

"Weiss asked me a little about my past, and I guess I snapped a little but I told them."

"Jaune, no one here thinks less of you because of your past." Oobleck sighed, the boy had always had some sort of shame-complex over his past. "We don't perceive you as weak, or incompetent because you're not."

"I know Oobleck, I-I know." Jaune sat back in his chair and breathed deeply. "It's just that... I didn't, never did, spend time thinking on everything that happened, and now, with so much time has passed, I tried my best to ignore and when someone tries to bring it up I know I'm going to be faced with thoughts that might lead too... unpredictable emotions."

Oobleck sighed again and thought for a moment. "Listen to me Jaune: Port, Goodwitch, Me, and even Ozpin as well as your team will be there to help you when you need it, we just wish you would ask."

"...I'll work on it I guess."

"That's all I ask, now run along with your team. I think you've kept them waiting long enough."

"Jauney!" shouted Nora as she plowed into the room and dive bombed onto her leader, Jaune sputtered and tried to pry her off but it was like trying to separate welded metal.

"Gah- Get off Nora!" he said, flailing around in a mess of limbs, but she just giggled and clamped down harder. Weiss sighed and he could tell Rin had just a ghost of smile on her lips, whether from the scene itself or, for once, not being Nora's plaything was hard to say.

"Please, if you are all done flailing about we need to get to Professor Goodwitch's class for the announcement." Weiss sighed, Nora immediately got off Jaune and sped out towards the general direction of Professor Goodwitch's classroom.

Team ARSN finally made it to class with Rin holding Nora in a headlock to the best of her ability, the rest of the team, Jaune and Weiss, had decided on making her the official "Nora-wrangler" for the rest of their time.

Professor Goodwitch stood up on the stage, using her scroll as a mic. "Class, I am pleased to announce that this freshman year will being going on a short expedition in the forest of Forever Fall."

The class murmured at that, the forest was said to be mostly off limits due to the high amount of Ursa said to be attracted to the sap. However, the regional discoloration as well as the impressive fauna bode well for scientific expeditions that still go on today. The sap is said to have an almost sedative effect on creatures of Grimm, momentarily draining their need to actively hunt humans.

"Students, settle down. Professor Peach has offered to help host this expedition so you task will be this: you and your team will be required to collect one jar of sap each per person and return it back to Professor Peach and I. Broken jars of sap will produce an automatic fail as well as not getting the required sap before the 2 hour time limit is up." Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat. "You will all be fitted with your gear for this field trip, and please, do watch out for eachother when it comes to Grimm. I have not had a single students die on this trip and I don't wish to make this the first one."

"Eeeee! Jauney! Did you hear? We're going sap hunting!" squealed Nora with delight, Jaune rubbed the bridge of his nose and breathed deeply.

"Yes Nora, we're doing it for a _grade_ not because you want to eat it." of course, Jaune didn't exactly know if that was what she wanted but he was willing to bet it was.

"Well duh silly! Professor Peach obviously wants all the sap so she can make her own Forever Fall syrup from it! It's, like, suuuuuuper good when it comes to putting it on pancakes, right Rin?"

"Yeah." was all Rin said as she returned to closing her eyes.

"Regardless, you will not be eating that sap anyways. I won't be on a team full of people who eat their grades for fun." Weiss scolded, Nora giggled in her usual way which only served to infuriate her more.

"Quite the team no?" Rin asked, not looking at Jaune.

"Yeah, you sure said it."

 _Man Qrow I wish you were here, you'd know what to do._

0-0-0-0

 **Ok so a much bigger, and hopefully better, chapter. I wanted to get the jaunedice episode done in this chapter and atleast wanted to get started on "Forever Fall". If you guys are wondering if 1 million volts is accurate for the charge Cressida got during the fight, a high voltage taser deals 3.7 millions volts but at a higher ampage. Considering it was conducted through her armor I didn't want to write Cressida as having nerve damage, anything else I wrote in that fight about that is for laughs.**

 **Speaking of which, I wanted to say something about how I write these chapters. I try to write these chapters through how Jaune sees the world, that's why, initially, every action a female takes has some kind of hidden undertone to it. Jaune sees the world through what he has come to believe as a fact, and so that's how I try to write it. The style may change slightly as Jaune progresses as a character. I'll answer further questions next chapter so if you have them don't be afraid to write them.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	8. Fly Me to the Moon

**Hey, CoffeyJoe back here with another chapter for you guys! Big shout out to SabletKnight for agreeing to be my beta for this story! Hopefully it will make the chapters a little better for you guys! I'm still on the fence about if I want a pairing for this story but if I do it won't be Arkos or Yellow Mellow (BlakexJaune) because I'm tired of those. I'm just throwing it out there I am not entirely opposed to gay shippings as there will have to be some for other characters in the story, just leave an idea and an explanation. Anyways leave review if you want but try to include some reasoning behind it or I'll probably ignore it.**

 **With that, enjoy the chapter folks!**

0-0-0-0

Jaune walked back to his dorm in relative quiet, the rest of his team staying around to catch up with Team RYBN since he didn't want to hang around. It wasn't to say he didn't like them or anything, but he could barely handle his own team's interactions; taking a chance to walk back alone was something he wasn't going to pass up. He entered the dormitories to find himself, again, relatively alone in the place's rec room.

Sighing at such a slow, tedious day that accented his tired mood perfectly, he shuffled up the 3 flights of stairs and turned towards his room's wing. He had almost made it, promised land and whispers of a cool bed to fall into just over the horizon, when a pair of familiar, and ugly, looking students cut off his route. What is this an 80s high school movie? if he hadn't dealt with Nora's badgering all day he might have been more angered at the two thugs but it was replaced with a grating annoyance.

"What do you want? I haven't had time to get a _Get Well Soon!_ card for you leader." Their names were irrelevant to him but he identified them as the green and brunette members of Team CRDL.

"Tch, got a lot to say don't you?" the green Mohawk chick barked from down the hallway.

Seriously, this was more awkward than intimidating due to the distance between them. Furthermore, the last thing he wanted was attract the ire of the other denizens on this hall. He went with Plan B and decided to barrel right through them, briskly walking down the hall to make his intentions quite known.

"You can either move or be run over, I don't care which." When he was an arm's length away from the two of them a voice spoke up from behind them.

"So Jauney-boy, I take it you don't want to deal with us today." The impressively irritating voice of Cressida Winchester came in from behind him. The blonde slanted his body so he was still somewhat facing the other two idiots and scrunched his face at his "Arch nemesis".

"What do you want Cressida? Is this some sort of power play? Because I'm not in the mood. Get these two goons out of my way or I send you all down for a meeting with Nurse Tsune." Jaune liked to think he had good patience, you needed it with Qrow, but this was honestly wearing thin. It had been a long, tiring day and that was without considering upcoming events. The field trip tomorrow meant he had to ride in a bullhead for over 2 hours there and back.

"Come on Jaune! Is that anyway to talk to your best friend?"

"Spit it out idiot, what's the explanation." Cressida dropped her smirk with a growl but it soon came back in the form of a sneer.

"Well, I was just thinking about you while in the hospital today-"

"Not interested, I have no need for a girlfriend."

"Not like that you idiot! I was thinking about how on Remnant you got into this school. I looked it up and you were slated to be some trophy husband for the past couple years and then bam! you go and unlock your aura. Then, somehow, you get into Beacon next year just like that." she rubbed her chin in a faux thinker pose. "Sounds like institutional favoritism to garner favors from your family."

His head jerked slightly but he reigned it in, she wanted to get him riled up. "-And that's just terrible! I thought Beacon was more professional than that! So, I had this idea to call my mom, the current matriarch of the Winchester family line who holds a seat on the council of Vale, and explain to her this travesty. Of course, that would land you and your family in some hot water, not to mention what would happen to this school! Those fools in the faculty would lose their jobs and be laughed out of the huntress business forever more, and then perhaps you'd face criminal charges as well. So I figured that if you and I just became a couple of pals I could-"

Something in him snapped and he was not proud to admit that. He wasn't worried about his family, his parents could rot and his sisters would almost certainly be unaffected, but the staff here had earned a spot in his heart; they were the first to take him in and truly care about him after everything with Ironwood in Atlas. The bulbs overhead burst like they had been shot, cool blue energy sparking overhead and casting an eerie strobe effect throughout the hallway. Jaune hefted Cressida by her shirt and slammed her as hard as he could into the nearest surface, pinning her to the wall. It cracked easily under the force as the air was squeezed out of her.

"Listen you little ginger dipshit! If you think I give a damn about your mother or what she can or cannot do at this school, then you're dumber than I thought and let me tell you, that was something I thought impossible. If you even so much as think about threatening this school and its staff, I will find out. And when I find out, I will hunt you down and I will destroy your life as a hunter. I will not stop until I have ruined the lives of your team, your mother, and anyone who had so much as fucking given you the time of day, making sure that you can only watch from the sidelines. Helpless." He seethed through gritted teeth "Am. I. Understood?"

"Y-Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes... sir."

"Good, and now for you all." he said, gesturing to the frozen teammates around him. "The same goes for you, if you like your nerves endings without issue and care even one iota for the safety of those around you, you will keep quiet."

"Yes sir!" they responded in unison, he let go of Cressida and watched her slide down the cracked plaster as she came to grips with the situation. Scurrying away from him, she and her team retreated down the hallway but not before she turned to snarl at me.

Cressida swore under her breath. "You'll regret this Arc, mark my words."

0-0-0-0

Jaune breathed heavily as he staggered through the door frame of his room. He was currently trying to control the maelstrom of deep-seated emotions whirling around inside him, and combined with the fact that he just cost the school a couple hundred lien in fixing the lights,most likely dozens of complaints , and threatened to enact bloody vengeance on an entire team of fellow students, he was going into meltdown mode.

"Breathe Jaune, you gotta remember what Qrow always told you." _A person on the battlefield with their head somewhere else might just lose it_ Jaune took a moment to collect himself and opted to not sort through the emotions that had bubbled up out of nowhere in the conversation he just had, instead falling flat onto his bed and burying his face into his pillow.

Jaune wasn't usually one to run away from his problems. He knew first hand that running only tires you out for when those problems catch up, but he needed a break from today. Too much was happening too fast. He didn't quite realize that his team and Team RYBN had gotten back until Weiss opened the door to their dorm and shook Jaune's shoulder.

"Ugh. Jaune, care to explain why the lights are out and there's broken glass everywhere?" she asked with an incredulous look; she didn't want to pull the metaphorical pin on his grenade but this needed some explanation.

"No need to guess who Weiss, I just got done having a lovely _chat_ with Team CRDL."

"You didn't kill any of them did you?" she asked, now a little more worried.

"Of course he didn't partner! There was no blood or bodies anywhere there!" Nora cheered while bouncing on her bed.

"Nora! That's inappropriate!" Rin chided her to which she just giggled and shrugged her shoulders. Weiss's mouth opened and closed several times as she looked in between her teammates before deciding a hot shower was in order.

"Well atleast no one got seriously hurt I suppose." she then turned to eye him carefully from the bathroom door.

"And you, mister, will be taking a shower tonight. I won't go to sleep smelling you from across the room."

"Yeah yeah." he muttered as she huffed and went to go take her shower in relative peace and quiet. As they heard the water turn on Rin looked to her partner with an unreadable expression, in some way she felt like she had left her leader down. Nowadays it seemed like Weiss was more his partner than her and now that this incident just happened she figured this was a perfect time to garner some conversations with him.

"You know, Jaune, we just want to make sure you're ok right?"

She heard a muffled sigh from their leader. "Yeah, I know Rin. Tomorrow will be better but today has taken it out of me in more ways than I care to count."

Well, so much for talking to her partner she supposed. And the hits kept coming when, 20 minutes later, Professor Goodwitch knocked on their door demanding answers for why half the dorm's power was out and the hallway was filled with broken glass. Upon seeing the rather downcast look of her pupil she could put things together enough to understand, vaguely, what happened. She really wished Qrow had him control his semblance more rather than use it to power her kitchen appliances and charge her scroll. Still, with a flick of her crop, the the glass reformed into pristine bulbs as the Beacon support staff worked to get the power up and running.

The dorms returned to relative quiet after that, he got into the shower and got out without really processing anything before slumping back down onto his bed. The others pretty much left him alone to sulk, and perhaps that's what he needed to do; just sulk for a bit and try to air out the stress in him. As the evening reached its peak his team decided they wanted to grab some dinner before the cafeteria closed.

"You think we should go to the mess hall now?" asked Rin quietly, looking to Weiss who just nodded.

"Of course silly!" Nora crowed happily while bouncing lightly on her bed. "But Team ARSN just isn't complete without its fearless leader!"

Rin and Weiss looked like they were about to dissuade her of that particular notion, but before they could their leader sat up from his. Jaune had decided not to drag his fellow team members down with him, and if he was honest, he was pretty damn hungry too. It wouldn't hurt to join them.

The cafeteria was still just as lively as ever; for a huntress school the kids could truly act like children sometimes. Seriously, each table was ruled by one team or another and they zealously guarded their territory while every so often throwing food at the other kids. He recalled the time Team CFVY, more specifically Coco, started a massive food fight using almost every type of food the cafeteria served. He had never seen someone as angry as Goodwitch that day, the woman looked like she was about to launch Coco straight out of the continent.

Still, Team ARSN eagerly gathered their food and returned to their table as Nora regaled them with another one of her tales. The girl had a mouth that ran a mile a minute, not to mention her stories were just as outrageous; she easily put Professor Port to shame. Weiss looked like she was staving off a headache and Rin seemed to have tuned their ginger companion out. For the sake of his sanity, Jaune decided to follow suit.

 _I hope this school field trip goes ok, the last thing I need is another problem in my life_. He was bitterly reminded of something Peach had mentioned to him last week which felt like almost a lifetime ago.

 _"So Jaune," she said with a confidence that he would have thought impossible when they first met. One-on-one talks were fine but adding in 2 or 3 more people and she became a stuttering mess. "I wanted you know some important dates for all freshmen as they weren't quite mentioned in orientation."_

 _"Oh? And what's that professor?" she scratched her cheek slightly, a habit when she wanted to lead into some sort of forbidden territory with someone._

 _"Wellllll, there's the Beacon Fall dance of course. We put it on every year for all four years, there's dancing and food and it's a good time to hook up with someone or so I've heard." Peach had quite a taste for those romance novels not to mention an appetite for "Shipping" as she tried to explain it. He sighed, knowing what she was trying to suggest and all, and while it did come from a good place he wasn't interested._

 _"Even if I was interested in dating I don't think I would find someone here." He said in a tired voice. She often tried to bring these conversations up and had somehow gotten the other teachers into such a disgusting habit as shipping. Rumors even spread she had infected Ozpin herself, and he hoped to whatever god was out there she hadn't convinced Qrow of something similar._

 _Peach laughed contently with a small line of blood down her nose at the "finding someone here" tidbit, no doubt taking that the wrong way. Not to say he wouldn't maybe, just maybe consider such a thing. Shaking his head at that part entirely he motioned for her to continue on with her list of important dates._

 _"Well, then of course near the middle of the year the Vytal Festival comes around, and that means we get to send a bunch of our teams to the championship! I hear this year is going to be hosted in Vale and I can't wait to see how that goes!" Not many knew this, but Peach also enjoyed a good party nearly as much as her weird shipping thing. "And then of course there's a short Christmas break and then that's about it as far as school-sponsored events go..."_

 _"And there's also a sort of parent meet-up day before the tournament so you know..." she lowered her gaze and let it flicker ever so quickly to her star pupil whose knuckles cracked dangerously after hearing that._

 _"Well. That has nothing to do with me as far as I know." he responded curtly, trying not to get upset with the much smaller woman._

 _"I just want you to know, part of your agreement says they technically can-"_

 _"You think I don't know that?" he snapped causing her to flinch, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply not wanting to let this turn into something he would regret. Still, he hoped Isabella and Nicholas had enough sense not put that nail in their coffins. Shaking his head Jaune left the dust lab and Peach who watched his form exit through the door and out of sight._

 _"That boy..."_

With everything that had happened, he had no idea that the day was sneaking up on him so fast, albeit a few months away. His parents hadn't tried to contact him and there had been no meetings with council members or anyone else, so maybe he was getting work up for nothi-

 _*plop*_

A bright green pea smacked right into his eyebrow causing him to level a very stern, Rin-like gaze at his teammate Nora. She giggled her usual giggle before puffing out her cheeks and pointing a finger at his chest.

"What did I tell you about thinking those nasty thoughts!" she scolded, Jaune shrugged slightly before going back to his food which he had been robotically eating throughout his little flashback.

"Well, I think I've had my fill for tonight so I will see you all back at the dorm." Weiss said politely before dabbing her face with a napkin and throwing away her food. As she left, Team RYBN burst through the door to cafeteria and made their way to pick up whatever scraps of food were left. Judging by their red faces, they had run to narrowly make it in time, and Jaune felt a sudden surge of happiness at the fact he never had to delegate such trivial things to his team; they were much too mature for that.

Well, Nora needed to be kept in line by Rin, but it was something he supposed. They made their way over and set their plates down near Team ARSN before they began eating, enjoying the company of each other between mouthfuls. Their team seemed to get along well enough; Ruby was excited over their field trip and Yang liked to tease her on how much of a child she acted. Blake just read her book and occasionally nibbled at her food as Pyrrha tried to make sure the two sisters didn't kill each other. Jaune watched as they laughed and played around, even drawing Blake into the conversation with a remark about her book, and hopelessly tried to suppress the feeling in his stomach.

He felt empty, hollow; a deep ache he couldn't ignore put him off from what was left of his dinner. He grunted that he too was returning to the dorm much to the surprise of Team RYBN and the knowing sighs of Rin and Nora. He threw his plate away and left Rin and Nora to fraternize with their sister team. He had just made it out of the cafeteria threshold when someone grabbed his hand.

Jaune was actually surprised to find Pyrrha looking back at him. They hadn't truly spoken face-to-face a whole lot, but he supposed that it wasn't like they were strangers. She looked kind of worried-, or perhaps more like concerned?

"Jaune, is everything alright?" the dull ache pulsed but he refused to show it.

"Yeah, don't worry. You should get back to your team." he made his way to leave but she decided to to try and keep the conversation going.

"It doesn't sound like you're ok." she pushed on, "You know, if something is wrong just tell us."

"Like I said, you should get back to your team. It looks they're having fun."

"You're always welcome to join us, you know. We were thinking about going out one night and they -Yang- were really interested on getting you out of that shell of yours."

"I guess I'll think about it." he tried to ignore the guilt as she smiled happily and turned to return back to her team who were arguing with Nora happily.

He was always welcome to join them?

...

No, he didn't think he was.

0-0-0-0

Jaune entered back into his dorm as the sun dipped behind a patch of clouds, thus blanketing the campus in thick darkness. With a soft click the door opened and he stepped inside, Weiss was over his bed grumbling about something or other.

"Weiss? You ok?" she turned around and breathed deeply before treading around the room as he entered.

"Yes, I finished my school work early and decided to try and organize what is left of this dorm." she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Seriously, if my sister could see the mess left between you and Nora, she would be utterly appalled."

"Your sister is Winter, correct?"

She actually looked surprised as that. "You- You know my sister?"

"Somewhat, we met during a party." And that was all he said. she seemed interested in the fact they had met but she too decided not to dwell on the subject. Instead Jaune decided to strip down to his pajamas and hit the hay, so to speak.

His bed was pretty comfortable and he was really tired; so tired, in fact, that he was able to tune out Nora breaking down their door like a SWAT team and shouting about how much fun they had.

Still, the wretched feeling just wouldn't budge, but at least as his conscious faded, they quickly followed suit.

0-0-0-0

 _"I just don't get it! What gives them the right to decide my future?" Jaune shouted, standing the the luxurious kitchen his parents owned. With him were his two most trusted friends Sunny and Floyd, servants of the family but the closest things to parents he had right now._

 _"Jaune, they just want what's best for you." Sunny winced as she said that, there was no way she could even convince herself of something so ludicrous._

 _"Like hell they do!" Jaune slumped against the kitchen counter, head in hands. "My dreams, my aspirations,all gone!"_

 _"Chin up lad, this isn't the end for you." Floyd comforted him with a hand of his shoulder, remembering the days when his boy's most pressing concern was next week's math test._

 _"It is, Floyd, it is. That contract is binding and I have no way out, I'm finished." he moaned in despair, shrugging off his butler's hand. He picked up a half empty bottle of whiskey and decided to wander the house for a bit. He drank incessantly from the bottle in small shot-glass increments, but the constant flow of heavy drink clouded his good judgement and worsened his despair._

 _Jaune stumbled out onto the balcony just below the roof, a miserable expression on his face. Maybe this was it for him, he had nowhere to go and the entire deck was stacked against him. He supposed the old adage was true: the house always wins._

 _As he hung limply over the railing, a wayward echo bounced around in his head, soft as possible and yet it captured his attention clearly through the haze of whiskey:_

 _That would be quite the drop._

 _Now, Jaune had always thought about it before, but he never truly envisioned himself doing the deed. However, chugging half a bottle of whiskey doesn't do wonders for your mood or judgement. Thoughts whirled around in his head, and the more he sifted through them the more than wayward thought began to make more and more sense. He was nothing but a trophy now, just like his father, and grandfather, and brother-in-law, and soon he too would join them._

 _But maybe, he wouldn't have to. It posed an interesting question: "Is it better to live in servitude or die a free man?"_

 _Growing up, he always heard tales of how the Arc family of warriors were always free spirited individuals, always looking for adventure. Joan de Arc, the first Arc, slipped into the army as a young girl pretending to be a woman and made it all the way to fame and glory using a cool head and good judgement. Male or not, Jaune Arc was still an Arc and he could never truly believe he would be ok living in such a cruel future._

 _It happened before he could truly gauge his actions, one leg over the railing and then the second just as quick. There was a small amount of space for him to stand on but he still balanced himself using the railing, he eyed the drop below. A cavernous maw accentuated by the thick alcohol, but as anyone drunk will tell you whiskey makes you braver than you should be. He forced one hand off the railing to dangle over the edge, if he went head first it would be quick and painless, nothing but the feeling of weightlessness before he was sent to oblivion._

 _Maybe this was for the best, no one would drag him down and he would die, at the very least, a man who owned himself. The other hand threatened to release its grip and plunge him into that darkness when all of the sudden he felt something warm clasp that very same hand. With a mighty tug of strength he didn't think she had, Jaune was ripped over the side of the railing and sent sprawling by the head maid Sunny._

 _Jaune shook his head and got up from the cold stone floor to ask what she was doing before he was cut off by a strange sensation. Hot and pulsating, something felt like it was covering his cheek as his head was jerked to the side; she had slapped him. The idea that the timid and kind hearted maid he had known for all his life had slapped him was bizarre, almost alien, but it seemed to jostle him out of his addled state. His body shook as the cruel fact of what he was about to do washed over him._

 _He was about to kill himself._

 _Turning his head slowly he saw Sunny, almost a head smaller but none the less upset, staring at him with a shocked expression as tears began to run down her cheeks._

 _"Sunny I-"_

 _"What the hell were you doing!" she screeched, the sheer volume sending a sleeping flock of birds flying from the nearby forest. He heard the heavy clomping of shoes on carpet as Floyd burst through the balcony, his tanned face scrunching as he tried to read the situation. Jaune was at a lost for words, did he truly know what he was doing? Before he could answer, Sunny enclosed him with a bone crushing hug._

 _"My boy, what happened?" Floyd asked slowly, Sunny wasn't one to get so upset over just anything so this was a delicate situation._

 _"I-I don't-"_

 _"He was about to plunge himself over the railing." Sunny sobbed into his chest, Floyd's head whipped to Jaune who seemed to lower his gaze to the ground. That was all the proof he needed, quickly closing the distance between them and wrapped Jaune's other side in a tight hug._

 _"My god Jaune, what were you thinking." his voice quivered slightly but he refused to cry, Jaune never saw him do that._

 _"I'm sorry." he could only whisper out…_

0-0-0-0

Jaune's scroll woke him up blearily to a dreadfully bright morning. Rubbing his eyes, he noticed they were red and puffy from his sleep. Looking around, he saw that Weiss was beginning to stir and Rin seemed to be in the shower already. With any luck, Jaune could one right after her. Content with waiting for his shower, his morning tranquility was shattered as Nora sprung up from her bed with a horrendous shout of joy.

"Today's the day!" she cried, "Field Trip!" causing Weiss to jolt from her sleep and unceremoniously tumble off her bed in surprise. It didn't take long for her to regain her composure and hiss venomously at her partner. Nora just laughed it off.

Oh yes, field trip day. How could he forget. Well, he supposed this particular headache had to come sooner or later, so, ignoring Nora and Weiss arguing over each other's voices, Jaune rapped on the bathroom door a few times.

"One moment please, I'm almost done."

"Ok, don't use all the hot water." Rin came out a few minutes later and Nora turned her attention to trying to embarrass Weiss by stripping down her best buddy and not-together friend Rin.

Taking a deep breath and deciding to leave them to their own devices, Jaune settled into his shower and enjoyed the relative escape from the insanity that was Nora Valkyrie. These dreams, why now of all times? He finished his shower and got dressed, heading down to breakfast with the others soon after. The whole cafeteria was a fervent mess; with the field trip taking place after morning classes, all the usual deadlines had been pushed up and people were rushing to finish their work.

Even Team ARSN and Team RYBN were desperately rushing to get their gear together in time for the approaching bullheads. Jaune forgoed eating a rather substantial breakfast like Nora, instead opting for a simple apple or two and a glass of water. Bullheads tended to upset his stomach somewhat, and though Qrow had forced him on enough of them to get her kicks, his airsickness never failed to rear its head.

When the bullheads arrived, the teams clambered aboard trying to follow the directions of Peach and Goodwitch -Goodwitch mostly- but things settled down from there. Jaune could feel the icy glares from Team CRDL who had situated themselves across the bullhead. One of them had a large duffle bag full of god knows what, but he decided he didn't need to get involved. He was lucky enough Goodwitch didn't suspend him for what happened before and he wasn't one to push his luck, especially around that woman.

Weiss inched towards Ruby as Jaune grimaced and swallowed something she didn't care to think about, Rin seemed to shake her head in sympathy at her partner's plight but she too could be seen inching slowly away.

"Really feeling the love here guys."

"Eh, don't worry vomit-boy they're just making sure you don't paint them the inside color of your stomach!" Yang teased, Jaune sent her his own icy glare at that nickname.

"Call me that again and I'll drown you."

"Where? There's no water."

"Trust me, I'll find a way."

"Yaaaang, stop picking on Jaune already." whined Ruby, Pyrrha lovingly patted her shoulder as she laughed at their antics. The two teams' conversations devolved into teasing and mild arguments about their field trip, the fact that Forever Fall was host to a plethora of Grimm such as Ursa and Beowulves long since forgotten.

The unpleasant feeling felt like it was about to come back but it was promptly swallowed up under a wave of rolling nausea.

Yep. This trip was already going great, he could just feel it.

Hours later the bullhead touched down much to Jaune's relief and Goodwitch stood near the exit, clipboard in hand and Peach hidden behind her. "Now students, I want you all to follow me and be careful. The details of your assignment will be covered when we arrive at the site."

And with that, the bullhead doors opened...

0-0-0-0

 **Yeah! A wonderful chapter that will lead into what happens in the next one! Remember what I said up top and beyond that there is really nothing else. If any of you have questions feel free to ask. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it you know I love ya!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	9. Turbulence (re-write)

**Well well well, back again with a hopefully improved re-write. Honestly a glaring oversight on my part but I haven't been feeling myself lately with some minor personal business, but that doesn't excuse it. So be it, no going back now. That's embarrassing but hopefully this re-write captures a much different feeling.**

 **I'm throwing in something that just occured to me not too long ago and It has plans in the future. Also it helps me admit to Jaune not being just a senseless killer, now there's something else.**

0-0-0-0

The bullhead doors opened with a metallic whine revealing the bright auburn scenery of Forever Falls forest. The name had come from the strange fauna that had grown in the area; trees and other plant life were perpetually stuck in a bright, autumn color giving the forest its name. Although one of the biggest things that made the area well known was that the trees were known to produce a delectable sap favored by Grimm and humans.

Grimm known to consume the sap were found to become more docile and not actively hunt humans if a regular supply of sap was given to them, making the area safer than other forests around Vale. The first year teams exited the metallic death trap (as Jaune liked to call it) and followed Goodwitch, and to a lesser extent Peach, who was still firmly stuck to the Professor, down a wide path leading into the forest.

"Whoa Rinny this place is so cool!" Nora squealed as she bounced around her teammates much to their chagrin. Rin just nodded along, occasionally pulling her childhood friend back from wandering off as the teams got near to their destination.

Jaune could feel the burning glares of Team CRDL and made a mental note to watch for anything fishy. A smarter person would take his threat and not have anything to do with him- but he had the sneaking suspicion Cressida's pride was more importantly than her survival.

So be it then.

Professor Goodwitch stopped in the middle of a wide clearing, the gathered students formed a half circle around her as she explained the assignment.

"Students, your task for this afternoon is to collect a full jar of sap from the trees in this forest in 3 hours." Some of the students groaned but she continued anyway. "Failure to collect said sap, or the loss of one's sap will earn a failing grade. No if's, and's, or but's"

Peach and Goodwitch set about giving the needed tools to everyone in the clearing before sending the separate teams off. "Oh, and please keep your weapons nearby just in case. If you feel that you are about to be overwhelmed by Grimm, come back to Peach and I!"

Team ARSN stalked off into the woods with RYBN following behind them in their usual raucous manner. Jaune rubbed two fingers along the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to stave off the oncoming headache that was Nora and Team RYBN goofing off around them.

"Quite the troublesome bunch, aren't they?" Rin asked from his side in what might have seemed like a pleased tone if he was more perceptive.

"Yeah, troublesome is one word for it." he sighed as he saw Nora bit into the bark of a tree. _By Monty was the girl given a lobotomy as a child?_

Noticing the expression on his face Rin chuckled sweetly. "Personally, I don't feel that there's anything wrong with her. As long as I've known her, she's been one to do the first thing that comes to her mind."

"Doesn't sound fun."

"You're telling me, but she and her family were all I had left before coming here so I couldn't complain." Rin smiled fondly at some distant memory. "I wouldn't have settled for anyone less."

Someone who was childish, full of energy, and always sickeningly cheery who also did whatever came to mind?

Yeah, that sounded pretty interesting.

The two returned to tapping the trees in their corner of relative sanity as Nora chugged Weiss's sap, Yang cheering her on as the heiress seemed intent on impaling the both of them on Myrtenaster.

What the teams didn't hear was the 4 women sneaking through the brush towards them, one of them holding a box full of angered Rapier Wasps…

0-0-0-0

Cressida Winchester growled, a guttural sound that seemed more akin to what an Ursa would make rather than a girl with a wounded pride. Arc, her quarry, could be seen narrowly between the trees and red plants that separated them.

"Pretentious bastard, thinking he's hot shit just 'cause he got special treatment." She had worked all her life for her mother to notice her accomplishments! Her achievements! And the day she gets accepted into Beacon, all her mother can do is go on and on about this son of bitch with aura.

 _Well no more!_ The Winchesters had their pride and she wouldn't be the only goddamn Winchester in her family line to walk away in shame when some upstart tarnished her family's name! Her hands squeezed tightly around nothing, creating a low, elastic sound from her gloves.

"Cressida, do you really think this is a good idea?" one of her teammates, Sky, asked hesitantly from next to her. She whipped her head to her teammate with an expression of pure, unadulterated anger.

"What was that?" she snarled, Sky seemed to shrink back but stammered out a reply anyway.

"I-It's just that this guy didn't seem like he was joking when he threw you into the wall yesterday." Cressida snorted like an angry bull which caused Sky to flinch backwards and avoid her gaze.

"Yeah? Well the way I see it is that you're too much of a goddamn coward to give this bastard what he deserves." she returned to glare at her target who was currently trying to get a jar of sap out the hands of that spaz, Nora. "He's all talk. No matter what he says, my mom's on the council, so if he even lays a finger on me after this then he's gonna get the boot."

"Well, didn't the council send him here?" piped up Russet from the other side of her.

Cressida growled at the mohawked girl who also flinched backwards. "What was that?"

"W-Well, y'know, the council sent him here right? We all saw the news story. So would they really expel him then?" despite it almost giving away her position, Cressida rose above her green-haired teammate in a show of pure intimidation.

"So what you're telling me is my mom would favor this piece of shit over her own daughter?"

"W-what? N-No, but what if we get in trouble?"

"We won't!" Cressida snorted like an angry bull once more as she laid back down. "We won't because, if we do this right, he will have no evidence against us so shut up and get the wasps ready!"

Russet nodded solemnly as she lifted the box and the team began to close in on the unsuspecting hunters.

"I told you that'd you'd regret this Arc, and I meant it..."

0-0-0-0

Jaune felt his mysterious stalkers close in on his team and Team RYBN; he had, long ago, learned the art of aura sensory from Qrow who labeled it as the most important survival technique a huntress can have in the field. While Grimm have no aura, Qrow always told him that the most dangerous of obstacles are ones who can think, strategize, and set intelligent traps.

In other words, humans.

4 people, Team CRDL's glares, and Cressida's threats? Yeah, it didn't take long for him to realize just who his hidden friends were, and he could guess who they were truly after. Not wanting to drag his team and RYBN into this mess, he made an excuse that he was going to look for more sap and left his partner and fellow hunters to deal with Nora.

He had successfully found himself alone on a small knoll; this quickly changed as none other than Cressida and her backup dancers slinked out of the woodwork, the leader with a big smirk on her face.

"So, you were dumb enough to run off from your little friends?" she laughed smugly while her pack of thugs tittered behind her, he cracked a smirk of his own at the slightly nervous lilt to it.

"Wow, you really are slow on the uptake aren't you?" Jaune laughed which caused the ginger bully to scowl in what would be intimidating way if she was, well, intimidating.

"Enough of this Arc, you talk big but I don't think you got the stones to back it up." she snorted as she and her teammates closed in on him, one of them, the mohawk girl, holding a suspicious box with a large "W" on it.

Cressida traced his gaze to the box before smirking once more. "Oh that? Yeah, those are Rapier Wasps. In other words, you're screwed pal."

Something was with them now, a force, a presence almost. Unknown even to Jaune and his enhanced perception but something lied just beyond their grasp of the world around them, and it watched merrily as its trap was sprung. Everything was going according to plan, and it was destiny that the boy himself was at that precipice between madness and sanity before it even found him. Oh yes, a marvelous trap indeed...

"What would a thug like you want with a box full of bugs?" he guessed at the answer but she humored him anyways.

"Well, before you walked off on your own like a cheap horror flick, we planned to release them on you and the rest of those idiots back there."

Jaune's head twisted suddenly before he returned with a glare at them. "I see, well I'm not one to make idle threats."

Russet moved to open the box but Jaune's aura flared in a magnificent pulse of white; raw, unbridled anger bubbled forth from the young man and took shape in the form of an arcing current of blue lightning. It hit the box, cooking it to a crisp, and inadvertently sending millions of volts into the young girl who fell over in a spastic heap.

The blue-haired one cried out her name but, in the moment of distraction, Jaune crossed the gap, pumping his plentiful aura into his legs and gripping Sky's head in an iron lock before sending it straight into the nearest tree. The tree's bark splintered on impact, a thin blue sheen rising off the body now embedded in the trunk. He let go of Sky, who had ceased moving, to watch her slide down limply, a small trail of red coming down the bark. Jaune was curious as to whether or not it was sap, but he had more pressing concerns.

The sandy blonde swiveled her head between her leader and the rather murderous huntsman in front of her and made the best choice an aspiring huntress, who had spent years in combat school, could make.

She fled. leaving Jaune alone with one Cressida Winchester who, even now, tried to put up some flimsy shield of false bravado. She bared her teeth at him, mace gripped a little too tightly in her hand.

Jaune laughed but it was obvious there was no humor in it, lumbering towards the huntress, his face pulled tight and a manic twitch in his eye. "Wow, so you really didn't think I was being serious were you?"

With each step Cressida backed away, returning slowly to the woods she had appeared from. But that didn't faze Jaune in the least. In fact, just about the only thing in his head was an emotion he couldn't quite pin down. Not really angry, no it felt different, it was somewhat colder, more distant than the red-hot, adrenaline-filled feeling of pure anger going through you. It was something different, he knew that, somewhat familiar, like the time with the Atlas councilwoman over a year ago, but amplified. He was, he was...

 _Murderous_.

Yes, that was the word that described his mood right about now, and Cressida knew it...

0-0-0-0

Rin had survived a lot with being friends with Nora Valkyrie over the years. There was no way you couldn't be around her for more than 30 minutes without somehow getting a story -and, sometimes, a scar- to show for it. However, when the blonde member of Team CRDL came barreling out of the woods like hell itself was on her tail, he guessed this would be one for the "Lie Rin Story Hall of Fame".

Rin caught the blubbering woman as she passed by her and dragged her back within eyesight. She required a gentle -enough- slap to the face to get her talking once again, but when she did Rin found herself none the happier by it.

"I-It's Jaune! And Cressida! T-They're- They were- Look! Jaune is about to murder Cressida you gotta stop him." Rin swallowed hard at this unpleasant news, when she wished to find ways to get closer to her leader and partner so she could be there for him, "preventing him from burying a fellow huntress in a shallow ditch" was hardly one of them.

Rin looked back towards his team and RYBN as they finished collecting sap, Weiss filling up Jaune's jar while he was away and the rest looking at her with inquiring expressions. Rin set her jaw in a thin line before leaning in to whisper something to the still captive girl.

"I'll handle this, do not tell them what is going on, understand?"

She nodded wordlessly and Rin turned back to her friends. "I just need to talk to Jaune real quick, I'll be back in a moment please wait here. Even you Nora." Rin explained as the former began to march towards her. When she heard the last bit, she pouted, but returned to trying to steal Yang's sap.

Rin burst off towards where Jaune had left, aura fueling her speed, as she attempted to save her comrade from a particularly nasty situation she thought he would come to regret.

0-0-0-0

Cressida hit the dirt with a shriek of pain, agony coursed through her legs as she attempted to reach her mace only for it to be kicked away like a child's toy moments later.

"Hurts doesn't it? I hear getting shot in the legs will do that to you." came the mocking voice of Arc, she knew this was a bad idea, even if she wouldn't admit it to her teammates, but this bastard needed to pay for that arrogant attitude of his.

Jaune enjoyed watching the brutal bully squirm around, trying to find some way to save her ass. "Well don't act like you didn't see this coming, like I said, I do not make idle threats Winchester."

"You think you're gonna get away with this Arc? When my mother finds- No! When Ozpin and Goodwitch find out? You're gonna be a dead man." her threat didn't carry the desired reaction as her tormentor laughed heartily.

"Find out what?" he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "This is Grimm territory kid, who's gonna be left to say you weren't torn apart by Grimm? That blonde chick? She and I -I think- will come to an understanding on what happened."

Speak of the devil and she shall appear, a low growl emanated from the thicket in front of them. Sure enough, an Ursa Major crawled out from the woodlands, eyes glowing like hot coals as it descended upon the four students. Drawn by the concentrated negativity of himself, Jaune knew others would soon join the fray.

Jaune chuckled to himself and shook his head at this unprecedented run of good luck. "Well, well, well, looks like I don't even need to get my hands dirty do I?"

Jaune picked up the near-unconscious Cressida and tossed her closer to the large monster. She had this coming; a racist bully who didn't have the smarts or skills to be in this school accepted because of her influence. He'd call this karma.

The beast drew near and it seemed Cressida had resigned herself for she made no movement. Suddenly, from the area behind Jaune, gunfire erupted as his partner came charging into the fray, decimating the Ursa with a flurry of bullets. The creature roared sadly as it fell backwards and began to dissipate, Rin watched Jaune carefully as she checked to make sure Cressida was still alive. Sure enough she, and her two unconscious teammates, were alive and would probably make it back to Beacon with time to spare.

Damn, well surely there would be a next time for the trap to work. The presence disappeared from the knoll, still unknown to any of its occupants as it thought its next move. Perhaps this wasn't the end for this avenue, after all, there were more plans for the boy and there was more than one way to dig into his head. In fact, perhaps this could be turned into something more. All he'd take is one little push...

"Want to explain to me what is going on?" Rin demanded to her uninterested partner.

"Looks like some cosmic payback to me."

"This isn't a joke Jaune, you damn near killed these people."

"And nothing of value was lost. Furthermore, let's get this straight: We found the team cornered by Ursa and beowulves so we decided to offer some aid, they were badly beat up but we arrived just in time." Rin chewed her lip, but nodded slightly and her leader turned to leave.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why? What did they do to you?"

"Besides the thinly-veiled threats against Headmistress Ozpin and the faculty? These idiots showed up, cornered me, planning to set a box of raspier wasps on me. And not just on me either, they would have released them on everyone back in the clearing." Jaune snarled catching Rin by surprise, Rin's mind whirled as she tried to make sense of this, inside her an internal battle between logic and emotion warred. However, regardless of her feelings, it didn't excuse this.

"But why? Why would you feel the need to this-"

"To protect you!" the shout had cut her off and she returned to silence, Jaune seemed to gather himself before continuing. "It's a leader's job to protect their teammates right? More than that she was about to drag 7 innocent people into this vendetta because she didn't like them. That's what criminals do, and if this situation were different I'd be in the right, wouldn't I?

Rin considered it and found the logic sound, but still, this looked really, really bad. "So excuse me if I didn't take another team attempting to assault my partner, my team, and another team very lightly. More than that, I warned her to leave me alone, told her exactly what I would do, and she didn't believe me to be serious. She knew what she was getting into."

Rin gathered her thoughts before replying softly. "Ok, let's just call the bullhead and call it good for now. I-I'm not sure what to make of this right now, Jaune, I just can't wrap my head around it at the moment." she paused "We'll have time when we get back to sort this out."

Jaune smoothed his hair and sighed deeply. "Alright- Alright, I know you guys just want help, but- but I'm not used to all this. Look, you just need to know that trust doesn't come easily to me, as you could probably guess, and it's weird being with people like you all."

"Trust me, I get it. But you're our leader, and that means we need to be there just as much for you as you are for us. Ok?" Jaune nodded and he called Professor Goodwitch for a medical evac for the downed huntresses. Minutes later Goodwitch and the two teams along with the blonde Team CRDL member arrived to be hauled off and cut the field trip early, luckily Weiss collected his sap giving him a passing grade for now.

Rin walked back to the clearing with her partner still mulling over everything. _Think about it_ a traitorous voiced sounded within her subconscious, _what if that had been Nora? What if she had gotten hurt while you were supposed to be taking care of her?_

True to the voice's words, what Jaune had done would have been but a pittance to her wrath in comparison. Still, protecting them was one thing, but if he got expelled over this? Then doesn't that defeat the purpose because he'd no longer be there to protect them?

She shook her head of those thoughts. _No, no, Headmistress Ozpin is not an irrational woman so I'm sure she'd understand a hunter's desire to protect their teammates not to mention their friends. And I suppose it helps that the council likes him enough._

But would that be enough to save him? Cressida's mother _was_ on the council, so could she have him expelled? _No, the council needs him too much to expel him otherwise another kingdom will just swoop in and take him._

She benched these thoughts for the long bullhead ride back as she and Jaune walked into said airship, her team as well as Team RYBN behind her.

The two teams shot them confused looks, but Jaune quelled them with a gesture that said he'd talk later as the rest of the freshman boarded the bullhead and returned back to Beacon. As Professor Goodwitch interrogated Cressida on what happened, she caught sight of Jaune who was throwing her a glare that conveyed a pretty clear ultimatum. Jaune's scroll pinged as he got a message from what looked to be Headmistress Ozpin herself.

 _Please come see me after you debrief with your team, this is not a suggestion._ -Ozpin

Oh great, what did I get myself into this time?

0-0-0-0

Explaining to his team what happened when he returned was... not fun to say the least.

Nora was miffed at the fact that he didn't invite her along to beat up Team CRDL, Rin had come to terms with what happened and was willing to forgive him, even if she had serious doubts about the lengths to which he went, but Weiss...

She was mad, more so than her usual screechy type of angry. She ranted and raved about how irresponsible he was in taking on a team of four huntresses alone, yet she seemed more hung up on how reckless he had been rather than, maybe, putting two huntresses in a coma. It didn't help when he explained his upcoming meeting with the headmistress which only served to aggravate Weiss further.

 _"Listen up Arc, don't go and get yourself expelled just because of what you did in your usual, reckless manner. I'll be damned if I have to tell my sister that the man chosen to lead over me ended getting expelled, got that?!"_

Jaune sighed as he opened the doors to what he and Qrow liked to call "The Emerald Tower" for obvious reasons. Sitting at her usual desk, sipping her usual coffee, was none other than the headmistress herself who gestured for him to sit.

"Now, Mister Arc, I have just been informed by Miss Goodwitch that Team CRDL suffered extensive injuries on what should have been an easy assignment." she sipped her coffee casually.

"Yes, what of it?"

"Well, I just wanted to ask what you saw."

"Well, Rin and I heard some screaming from the knoll up ahead so we went looking for what was making the sounds. When we arrived we found what was left of their team being beaten down by an assembling of Grimm attracted to the sap in the trees around them." Ozpin hummed but nodded her head before standing up.

"Team CRDL will make a full recovery in a few weeks time, aura is quite the beneficial thing you see. If these were civilians, well, we'd put you on trial for murder but considering that their respective auras softened the blow the worst they'll get is a couple lasting scars." she seemed to contemplate something before turning back to him.

"Mister Arc, this is the same story, we told to the Vale council who accepted it without hesitation. It was then forgotten as footage of your training, initiation, and other files were presented to them in order to keep you here." she breathed deeply before looking at her pupil. "Mister Arc, I understand, I saw the footage of what truly happened not to mention the audio-"

Jaune felt a cold wind on his back at the thought of this woman knowing what he had done and also the fact she had cameras, and apparently mics, everywhere.

"And, frankly, it's a more than a little disconcerting. To think, the one male with aura and he turns out to be an attempted murderer." she said, seemingly unamused with the whole situation.

Jaune felt the need to argue with the woman but unfortunately found himself lacking in argument. I fact, if he wanted to entertain the idea, he couldn't really find a reason why he wasn't in jail.

"You're lucky the council was relatively uninterested in the rather negative happenings when it comes to you Mister Arc. The Vale council, in all honesty, views you as a proud investment and, more or less, prize that no other kingdom has claim to." she adjusted her glasses and set down her mug. "Even if we did tell them the truth they'd be more than happy to sweep it under the rug if need be, but that doesn't excuse you."

Jaune attempted to make some kind of argument but was cut off. "I honestly thought your time here had gone better, but it seems we were horribly wrong in where we educated you. I want you to stop and think what your fellows peers, not to mention your teachers and Qrow, would say if they viewed the footage here. Luckily I have kept this out of their eyes and will continue to do so for the greater good, Mister Arc."

"Headmistress I just-"

"Save it Mister Arc, I can feel your reasoning already and let me tell you, although well-placed, is completely wrong. Hunters have special abilities that make them better than an average civilian, as such we take very careful precautions so that huntresses do not abuse their power for their own gain. And, Mister Arc, if you were an ordinary huntress you would be sealed off from your aura and sent to prison. Luckily, you are in a special position that saves you from such a fate."

Was she right? Did he truly fly off the rails that bad? Of course he did, he nearly murdered 2 people in cold blood and admitted to their face he was going to set the whole thing up as an accident! Ironically his words about Cressida's trap being "what criminals do" never seemed louder than right now; because that's what he was right now: a criminal.

Ozpin sighed as she rubbed her brow, most likely desperately trying to figure _something_ out to help the poor man. "Jaune, this behavior reflects something incredibly disturbing we didn't know was inside you. Sociopathic tendencies should never be overlooked, and it horrifies me that we would miss what apparently was just beneath the surface from the start."

"Headmistress, I-I don't-"

She held up a hand to stop him, her eyes reflecting some deep inner thoughts. "In time, Mister Arc, you will be made for bigger things than yourself and when that comes it is my responsibility as a teacher to make sure you are mentally and physically prepared for it. The only thing I can do now, barring a straight jacket, is offer you some much needed council."

"What are thinking of?" he asked hoarsely, his throat had become inexplicably dry while he wasn't paying attention to it.

"I'm thinking you require some time with your mentors, Jaune, perhaps some one-on-one talking with your closest teachers will help straighten this out. After classes, inbetween training with your team and such, I will set up some counseling sessions with a few of your teachers under the guise of some recent stresses."

"May I ask which ones?"

Ozpin paused as she seemingly thought about her options. "Goodwitch mainly, I suppose, she is, believe it or not, much more versed in this area than myself or my fellow employees. I'll have some of the others come talk to you at different intervals for, what I hope is, a change in perspective. Now head back to your dorm room for now."

"Thanks, Headmistress." somewhere he felt a simmering anger but choked it down, trying not to admit to himself what he may or may not actually be. He had reached the elevator door when he was stopped by the headmistress's voice.

"I'm worried about you Jaune, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't care."

...

 _"Going down."_

 _..._

Jaune left the tower feeling none the better, but at least content with how things worked out. _Heh, I guess the council really does want me don't they?_ Maybe, if this day wasn't so shitty, he'd be more angry at the blatant oversight of this incident because he was special, but he couldn't be bothered to care right now. He was all out of anger, and just about any other emotion right now.

He had just made it into to the dormitories when his scroll began ringing, checking the caller ID he saw it was Qrow which actually surprised him. Whenever she called him it was usually because she was either drunk or hungover and in need of help at 2 AM.

He picked it up and brought it close to his ear and instantly felt Qrow's drunken, slurred mumblings on the other side. "Qrow? You all right? It isn't like you to call me this early."

 _"Kidsh, Oshpin told me that ya killed two huntreshes."_ Qrow drunkenly slurred on the other side of the line, it was lucky that Jaune had long since gotten used to Qrow's secondary accent.

"I didn't kill anyone Qrow, don't worry."

 _"Thatsh good, I can't have my shtar pupil exshpelled sho soon."_

"I'm fine Qrow, don't worry."

 _"Look kidsh, I know it may seem tempting, at timesh, to want to kill some prick 'cause they look at ya the wrong way."_ there was the sound of drinking coming from Qrow's end. _"But shtill, I raished you betta than that, sho I wan't you to take a deep breath and just count to 10 next time."_

"Qrow, you're rambling."

 _"Don't backshash ya moms, I am your moms."_

"You're not my mother Qrow, and please don't make me entertain the idea of you getting busy with another person."

For a few moments Jaune could swore he heard the sound of drunken sobbing and moaning something about rebellious teenagers on the other side before Qrow cleared her throat and laughed. _"Yeah? Well you might just have to ente- enter- expect me to get busy 'cause tonight momma's on the prowl."_

"And that's where I hang up, good talk."

 _"Goodnight kid, make shure you say hi to Rubes and Yang for me!"_

Jaune flicked his scroll shut and walked up the stairs to his dorm room, no sooner than he had entered he was tackled by Nora in a massive heap.

"Oh my god fearless leader! Did she expel you!? Are you expelled?! Oh, it was too soon!" she moaned as she continually crushed her "best buddy and fearless leader" before Rin pried her off with strength he didn't know she had.

"So what of it Arc, are you in any lasting trouble?" Weiss inquired as she brushed her hair, a ritual she went through at least three times a day.

Jaune chewed on that question for awhile before responding rather quietly. "I'm good, I think. Look, I may not be around after classes for awhile so just don't ask about it. I'll handle it on my own."

A pointed cough from his partner redirected his train of thoughts. "But, I'll call if I need some help." he said, now beginning to feel the distant clutch of sleep tug at the back of his mind.

Deciding today had drawn on too long Jaune excused himself to the shower and came out feeling less refreshed and more dead tired. The hot water relaxed his muscles, accenting the mental and physical exhaustion of using his semblance, getting told of by Ozpin, and talking to Qrow.

"Well, I think this has been enough for me today." he yawned loudly and clambered into bed before moving to switch off his light.

As he tried to get situated into bed Jaune's scroll pinged once more as he rolled over to look at it.

 _Me and the girls were gonna head out into town this weekend, and of course that means you're coming along._ -Yang

 _How am I supposed to convince Weiss to give up schoolwork?_ -Jaune

 _Just tell her that she can check out the upcoming people for the Vytal Festival, first ship of them should be arriving soon._ -Yang

"Hey Weiss, we're apparently going out this weekend with Team RYBN."

"Absolutely not! To think that blonde buffoon wants to waltz around the city instead of doing important classwork-"

"She says we can check out the competition for the Vytal Festival there."

"Well... A Schnee is never unprepared in the face of challengers, so it would only be right."

"Whatever." he had no room to joke or find the situation humorous, he was too busy trying to sort out his life at the moment.

0-0-0-0

 _He was alone, in a place he couldn't quite make out. Familiar, and yet kind of muddled like an old memory from a place you frequented years ago. He decided not to dwell on it too much and just went with the flow of things._

 _"So what's your plan?" a sickeningly familiar voice called out from behind him, he turned and was met with a near mirror image of himself, only younger and dressed in a fine tailored suit. And yet still there was something wrong, his skin was nearly snow white. Worse than Weiss's you could almost call it translucent, and he could tell, ebbing from under the collar, a thin criss-cross of black veins branched upwards from the neck. "Oh right, you don't have one."_

" _What?" he asked lamely, his mind was still short circuited from this vivid hallucination before him._

 _"You finally make it out of that life you always hated, and more than that, you finally got that power that was lorded over your gender." the hallucination cackled to itself, finding the situation funny. "And now look at you, bending your knee to an old buzzard in an even older tower."_

 _"Shut it! It's not like that, it was never like that!"_

 _"Really? Did you not hear her, admittedly honest, words herself? 'You're a prize no other kingdom can claim?' wow you really stepped up in this world didn't you." it taunted happily, enjoying his doppleganger's suffering._

 _"She- She's just trying to get me out of this." he argued back, his voice lacking assurance and reeking of desperation._

 _"Out of what? That little dream world where you're the master of your sea? Don't kid yourself Jaune we're still puppets on a string!"_

 _"Screw you, I don't know who the hell you-"_

 _"-Are? Why I'm you! Or rather, how you currently want to view you! Or is it we?" it shrugged its shoulders before continuing. "Regardless, we are nothing more than pawns of a chess board for Ozpin's amusement."_

 _"That's not- You're not-"_

 _"Real? I'm as real as you make me, and I can tell, even though you deny every fiber of your being with it, you do know that I'm just you."_

 _"I-I don't..."_

 _"Think on it Jaune, do you really think you're the psychopath Ozpin says you are? And if so, do you really think you'll ever fit in here...?"_

 _One little push was all it would take._

0-0-0-0

 **Woohoo! Another good chapter beta'd by my good friend SabletKnight (insert applause track) so a big shoutout to him! I personally like this avenue in which I'm going to take it, strap yourself in 'cause we're about to hit darkness bed rock later on.**

 **The next chapter will be a little longer because "An Arc's Mad World" is just itching for a new chapter!**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	10. A Brief Hiatus

**Sorry about this but I'm going to be gone until Friday so don't expect me to update any of my stories until then. In regards to this story I'm going to continue it with how I am envisioning it so if you don't like I'm sorry.**

 **To answer a few questions:**

 **I picked Team ARSN because of the inherent problems and social issues Jaune would have to get over when partnered with someone like Weiss, Rin, and Nora. All people who he has no experience dealing with, Weiss acts as a sort of opposite to him and a reason he needs to change now that he has the responsibility as a leader. Rin and Nora, although mainly Rin, act as his foil to keep him from just outright not getting along with his team.**

 **The reactions of his team to the events of Forever Fall don't strike me as too odd either. Weiss, at this time, cares more about making a name for herself and certainly  does not care about a racist bully like Cressida. Rin understands that Jaune had acted, although strangely violently, out of protection for his team and comrades. Rin would have acted the same if Nora had been injured because Cressida had some sort of grudge against her, and I think canon Ren would be pretty pissed too. Nora is just that, Nora, and I don't think that it is too far a stretch for her not to care about what happened to Team CRDL.**

 **The Vale council doesn't really care too much about the actions of Jaune because A) Ozpin covered it up and instead focused on the progress of Jaune and B) in this universe the government is portrayed as caring more about power over the other countries than individual people. And that's not too far off from real life either, furthermore Cressida's mother wouldn't really, from what she is described to be, care too much about her daughter's injuries writing them off as "huntress injuries" and leaving it at that.**

 **Ozpin was willing to hide what happened from everybody on the council and staff as well as the students of Beacon to prevent a panic and not raise issue with Jaune's residence. She couldn't suspend Jaune without creating some kind of cover story which would draw attention nor could she even hope to expel him. Instead, she opted to have the Beacon staff, possibly the only people Jaune truly trusts, as well as Qrow to talk to him about how things are going, most likely telling them to help Jaune through his social awkwardness. They'd never be the wiser and things would be kept to a lowkey state, especially considering the "Queen" the 4 seasons and the Vytal festival Ozpin did not need to handle another thing like this. She doesn't draw attention, there is no political fuss, and Jaune remains at Beacon where she can see and deal with him.**

 **It could be said that Ozpin _does_ care about Jaune's wellbeing, enough to try and have him seek therapy for his actions. More than that, talking about Jaune, there was some kind of outside influence during the scene at Forever Fall, although no one could detect it. This was put in there for a reason folks, unsurprisingly I do think ahead with the plot. All I ask is that you guys take a breather, and let the next chapter come out when it does. I promise, when I get back, it'll be the first thing I get done so just stick with it.**

 **Oh, and if you want a story with this premise but with a more canon Jaune, go check out "Just Add a Y" although I believe it's a harem story so be warned. I don't really like to write harem stories as I can lose track of how much screentime one person gets, more than that it seems to cheapen whatever personal relationship this Jaune would have.**

 **And if you still don't get it, this Jaune is OOC, so do keep that in mind when reading.**

 **Until next Friday guys.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	11. A Brief Reflection

**Hello back again with the chapter I had promised, and goddamn I just found I'll be gone for another week! Don't worry though, I plan on updating my other fic I'm working on before I leave then there will be no more interruptions until school starts again! I hope you guys enjoy, and let's pray this chapter goes a little better.**

0-0-0-0

Jaune jolted up from his bed, panting hard and sweating like a sinner in church. He swiveled his head around, making sure he really was back in his dorm room and not in that hell again. Slowly, he calmed his breathing and the sounds of a running shower echoed softly from behind the bathroom door. _I guess Rin is up early again,but by the fucking gods above what was that?_

Unfortunately, the dream remained crystal clear in his memory. Almost as if he had seen it played out in front of him in real life. Those words, they haunted him, gave him a sickening feeling in his stomach; the kind of feeling you get when you know something terrible has happened but you don't want to believe it.

 _"Do you really belong here?"_

Yes! Of course he did- or, at least he thought he did? No! This was his path, he has the tools, the team, the power to make everything right again. But, what should he do now? Ozpin had laid out the score for him, just as his vision had explained, and openly admitted to Jaune being a trophy for the kingdom of Vale. He ground his teeth together, the most placid way he could release the bubbling anger inside of him.

 _Who does that bitch think she is? Calling me a psychopath- ha! She wouldn't know what a psychopath was if one stabbed her in the chest_. he smiled savagely to himself before realizing what kind of place his thoughts were headed. He wasn't a psychopath, and certainly not someone who would needlessly hurt others right? Yes, Team CRDL had it coming for trying to mess with his team.

Yeah, that was it and that's all it was. The morning finished in relative peace, his mood making it clear no one was to bother them, and Nora only made one or two outbursts before arriving at the dining hall. Nora going on and on and on about another one of her "stories"; to this day, he never figured out where she got them from.

"-And then I was all like: Whoosh! Ka-pow! Slam! And that's how I saved Team RYBN from those nasty Ursa." Nora said triumphantly, retelling her version of the Forever Fall field trip.

"Did you hear? Those CRDL girls got seriously messed up on that field trip!" the whispers of some nameless, faceless girl gossiped to her friend who was in a similar way.

"Oh my! And to think the freshmen rarely ever get hurt on those trips..." the rest was tuned out as Jaune clenched his fists, what did they know about what happened? Nothing! They knew nothing, and yet they talk like they were there!

Some part of him felt mad that these people were prattling on like they knew what had happened, and yet another part tried to halfheartedly defend them but both were drowned out by the pinging of his scroll. Looking down he saw a message had come through-

 _Mister Arc, your first session has been scheduled for after school with Professor Port today. -Ozpin_

 _Tch, getting in the way again I see_. The woman had the gall to insult him and his very rights as a citizen of Vale and then went about telling him he was the psychopath? Fuck this woman, she was just like everyone else.

 _Yes, it's not like she picked you up and out of Atlas right?_

True, fine, but she had some ulterior motive. She had laid it out last night but didn't have the nerve to tell him exactly what she wanted him for. Sighing to himself, he suddenly felt extremely tired and lost his appetite. He tuned out conversations around him and his team as he tried to just shut off his mind for a bit, if only to get some real peace and quiet.

0-0-0-0

Headmistress Ozpin sighed as she slumped in her comfy chair and got started on the day's work. Sometime after heading home for the night, Ozpin had come to regret her words to her pupil. The boy was rather vulnerable, and rather volatile, at the time and what did she do? She borderline attacked him passive-aggressively and made more than a few barbed comments at the young man.

Sighing to herself, she found that, even at her age and wisdom, that she could still say the wrong thing in any situation. Hopefully the boy's team would get together and provide support for their leader; suddenly, her desk's tablet function began to receive a transmission from a coded source. Nodding grimly to herself, she answered it and spoke with an even and professional tone.

"Tin Man, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Wizard, I wished to handle a check-in with our situation as you are the one in control of the situation." remarked the crisp voice on the other side.

"The subject is stable, furthermore the candidates for the next are beginning to thin as more information comes through."

"Understood, I have more than a few candidates from my own selection Wizard."

"Are they of the acceptable parameters?"

"Wizard, this situation is difficult and completely unheard of so I have found some more varied candidates-"

"I will only even consider those of the acceptable parameters Tin Man, Wizard out." she turned off the call and leaned back in her chair as she mused about her star pupil and his apparent breakdown. Something about this didn't feel right, something was missing, and furthermore, her coffee tasted sour which was a sure sign of something amiss.

0-0-0-0

Jaune hung around in Port's class as their final hour ended, he had explained to his team what had happened and that he needed to stay behind for a bit. They seemed apprehensive to leave but he waved them away with a passing comment of finishing their work for the weekend.

After the class had cleared, Port locked the door and turned to face her student. I must tread carefully, the poor lad has been through more than enough.

"Jaune," she started slowly. "I want you to know that I'm not here to reprimand you or force you into some detention. I, and the other staff including Glynda, though she may not outwardly show it, care about you son."

"Yeah, Ozpin certainly made that clear." he snorted, Port sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose Damn it Ozpin, what did you say this time. Despite respecting her superior immensely, Port knew she had a bad habit of saying the wrong thing.

"Jaune, regardless of whatever Ozpin said I do care about you." she said sincerely, something seemed to crack in her pupil's frosty mask because he choked down whatever comment that rose in his throat.

She took a deep breath and steadied herself. "Jaune, Cressida refuses to give us the full story of what happened and you never came forward so now is your chance."

"Cressida and her goons were about to set a box of Rapier Wasps on me and my team, not to mention Team RYBN."

"Is that so? Do you have any evidence."

"No, I vaporized that box of theirs so I didn't mention it. Plus, a weekend stay at the Casa De La Infirmary should straighten them out at least." Port frowned at his reasoning, but decided to go with it.

"Son, personally, I don't think you're off your rocker. And that isn't the reason I've come to counsel you, Jaune, I'm here to get you to talk about some of your past." She knew they were on thin ice now, the boy's past was a bad trigger for him, but the lights weren't flickering so she believed it was alright for the time being.

"Ask." was all he said, a command that told her she needed to ask fast and clear.

"We know some of what happened with Atlas, but we're not sure about your actual childhood." she said, her pupil laughed bitterly at himself more than her.

"It's funny, y'know? My childhood was good, and maybe that's the most painful part. You see, when I was a kid, I idolized my sisters, my mom[not his mom?], my family for just being heroes." he combed a hand through his hair, exasperated at something. "The idea of going out and fighting monsters appealed to me so much, and all I wanted was to be just like my sisters and mom."

He snarled bitterly. "That pathetic excuse of a man, my father, Nicholas, filled my head with illustrations of how my mom used to be back in her heyday and how men like me were the real heroes for being the house husbands. That we were the people that helped the brave huntresses when they came back from the battlefield. " he spat those last words, almost as if he hated the way they tasted. "Me, the gullible child I was, ate it all up and dutifully acted as the perfect son. I adored the way people walked all over me like a human carpet because I was just a man."

0-0-0-0

 _Jaune sat on the balcony of his family estate, sitting in one of the chairs as he heard his grandpa talk about the amazing stories that his grandma used to talk about back when she was still alive. Jaune's eye sparkled at the thought of doing such heroic deeds himself, saving the day and, at the same time, remaining humble in the face of his glory._

 _His dad tried to one-up his father-in-law by talking about the time Bianca and his mother cleared out one of the worst nest of aquatic Grimm seen in centuries! Just by clearing out that nest, there was an explosion of new trade routes and business boomed across the four kingdoms. The nest itself was located smack dab in the junction of multiple trade routes, so, by killing the nasty creatures, ships could stop going around it and save the extra hours of time. He remembered it because of all the attention his sister and mom got because of it! Interviews, photo shoots, they were famous!_

 _Still, there was nothing cooler to him than being a huntress, to save the day from the bad monsters and the villains just like how his family told them they did. It was then his father spoke up as he turned to his beloved son._

 _"Kid, I want you to know that just because you can't exactly fight monsters like your sisters and mom, that doesn't make your life any less valuable." his grandpa's eyes crinkled at that. "You grandpa and I, your mom and your sisters, we all want you to live your life to the fullest because that's the only way we can value the sacrifices of the huntresses that protect us."_

0-0-0-0

Port nodded, filing all this away to take to her coworker Glynda. "And then, after years of being a normal, albeit prodigious and well-behaved, son I got my first reality check paid in full and at 100% interest. My dear fiancee, Kim, was now the center of my universe when I woke up, how I behaved, and how I died were now solely hers to control for me. That's when I had an epiphany: I had been set up for years upon years upon years!"

"The entire thing was some sort of cruel joke! They glued the rose-tinted goggled to my face and expected me to never figure out that I was just a walking trophy! If you think what happened to Cressida was bad you should have known what I was like when I first learned this. It took me months, but I figured out that the path of least

resistance would grant me the most freedom. You see, my mother, at the time, had more than enough control over me to prevent me from seeing anyone, going anywhere, doing anything beyond my basic human rights. Essentially house arrest for a son who didn't want to be sold off to some aristocrat who profited off the misery of faunus."

Jaune took a deep, shuddering breath and reigned in his rushed breathing.

0-0-0-0

 _Jaune stood up on the family balcony, a similar scene from years ago but this time the mood had done a complete 180. Jaune's breathing was ragged, his fists clenching occasionally as he stared at the man across from him. Nicholas watched his son with a tired gaze, knowing full well that the boy he had raised was one wrong comment away from attempting to strangle him._

 _Anyone could see that poor Jaune did not take the news of his marriage contract very well. In fact, Nicholas had to get them to leave early, citing an appointment, so as to prevent Jaune from glassing the greasy little lawyer that wrote up that dreadful thing. None of it sat well with him, he had told Jaune that his life would be lived to the utmost value when he grew up. And now, now he was forced into a binding contract with a crushing grip stronger than a King Taijitu; the goddamned thing was going to ruin his boy's life in almost every conceivable way._

 _His wife did not take any of it well, the contract had been sprung all too suddenly and she was forced into a make it or break it decision - and she decided to go along with it. They believed a marriage to someone such as Kim would give their son the meaning he wanted, the resources and the standing to rise up in the world. At the beginning, they even cooed at the idea of a heaping handful of grandbabies that would mix quirky cuteness and sharp intellect together. Having 7 daughters who were all busy huntresses didn't exactly leave much time for baby making._

 _But this, this was a nightmare beyond all hope. Nicholas returned his attention to the man in front of him, looking about ready to blow at any moment. It took him a second to summon up enough restraint to form a coherent sentence._

 _"So this," he started, gesturing to open air. "was all some ploy to get in good with the Goldmines?"_

 _"Jaune, this wasn't-"_

 _"-What you had in mind? Then what was? Oh, I see, you expected more money! Don't worry I get it." he chuckled, but the humor in it was as dry as the Vacuan deserts._

 _"Jaune this isn't about money, we only want what's best for you..." He knew he had slipped up there, as his son stopped moving and settled a nearly blank glare at him. The boy's fingers cracked as he squeezed them into his palm and his eye twitched dangerously. Suddenly, without warning, Jaune began to lumber towards him but before anything possibly violent could occur Sunny called them down for dinner._

 _Jaune stared blankly at Nicholas for a few moments, and then left without another word._

0-0-0-0

"Of course they tried to get into my good graces, wouldn't do to have their prize become too uncooperative right?" he asked, Port just shook her head silently cursing the boy's parents.

0-0-0-0

 _Hollis Arc, otherwise known as just Grandpa, walked around the large Arc family manor with his distraught son-in-law Nicholas. The reason behind his melancholy was none other than Jaune Arc, his grandson. It truly pained him to see what had happened to his little boy, he remembered the days when they would catch baseball games on the weekends and go out frequently under the guise of "Guy's Night Out"._

 _Hollis grimaced as he imagined what his wife would have done if she could see the walking timebomb that was his grandson now. He had been involved with this whole marriage affair enough to know how things got so fucked in the first place, but he couldn't, try as he might, swallow the disappointment towards his daughter. Yes, if his wife was here she'd splatter those arrogant bastards all over the wall and make sure her precious grandson would never get hurt again._

 _And if he had an aura he'd have done the same thing._

 _"I just- it's just that we don't have any connection anymore you know? Back in the day I was his go-to for all sorts of manly advice and stories." Nicholas lamented, hands roaming through his hair. "And now? Now Jaune looks like he's constantly about shiv me if I get too close. To make matters worse, the damn Goldmines keep pushing forward with this fucking marriage bullshit so Jaune doesn't have any time recover!"_

 _"Hmm, those pompous asses can shove it. To think, they'd pounce on us completely unprepared." when the Goldmines first suggested this union they agreed pretty quickly, a rich family that would keep their only son rich, well-connected, and well-off not to mention a stunning wife? Of course it sounded good! But the Goldmines had already known this, and they had been preparing for months. As soon as Isabella agreed they sprung the trap, it seems the Goldmines has the idea that Jaune would be their ticket further into the highest echelons of the huntress world and they wanted to make sure he'd never get away._

 _It sickened him, the way they toyed with people, the way they toyed with HIS GRANDSON made him pissed beyond any meaning of the word. But it was too late now, and he could only hope, by some divine miracle, that Jaune would get through this._

 _Both of the men entered the kitchen to find none other than the man himself. Drinking something that looked suspiciously like bourbon although there was no bottle in sight, Sunny worked around the kitchen making some stuff for lunch in an hour or two._

 _"Hey pal, your grandpa and I were thinking we'd hit up the old green jewel this weekend! The Vacuan Raiders are playing the Atlesian Hawks this year!" Nicholas tried to bridge the gap between them but it failed spectacularly._

 _"I'm not a kid anymore father," he winced at the name, remembering when he used to call him dad. "You can't win me over by going to see some stupid sports game."_

 _He turned to leave, but before he got out the door he mentioned something else with a bitter chuckle. "Oh yeah, and mother has me working all weekend on my geometry courses so I won't be doing anything but that for the next three days. But I suppose you already know that don't you?"_

 _Nicholas was about to defend himself and say he could easily talk Isabella out of such a boring prospect but was cut off by Sunny yelping in pain. "Sunny! Are you ok?!"_

 _She sucked on a few of her fingers and eyed the blender she had been about to use. "Yeah don't worry, darn thing just shocked me all of the sudden."_

0-0-0-0

"Now Jaune, I don't mean to offend you, but are you sure that what you proclaim to be true is in fact the truth?" Port asked slowly, something sour crossed Jaune's face for a brief moment.

"Yes, trust me I was there, so let me tell you there is no excuse for doing what they did." he leaned back in his chaired and sighed. "I mean, why would they care?"

"I'm not sure, but perhaps things aren't quite what they seem."

"But I-I was their son and they just-" Port swore she could see some treacherous thought cross his mind. "No, they betrayed me and they were lucky I didn't get them back for it. That was my ultimate act of forgiveness. Of mercy."

Port sighed as she checked the clock, she couldn't keep him here for much longer and he seemed to be stuck in whatever trench this was. "Alright Jaune, that's good enough for today but I think we'll need to pick this up again sometime over the weekend. How's Sunday at 5:00 sound with Peach and Oobleck?"

"Yeah, fine." he grunted, packing his things and turning to leave.

He had his hand on the doorknob when Port decided to add one last thing. "Jaune, you do know that we'll always be here for you right?"

...

"Yeah."

And with that, the door shut.

0-0-0-0

In a warehouse just south of downtown Vale, a redheaded woman sat on a couch with her colorful accomplice. Roma Torchwick contemplated just how screwed things were when it came to that bitch's plans. She had been behind the dust robberies all over Vale and was working as a surrogate leader for the White Fang branch in the city, at least until the time was right.

Across from her, also sitting on a couch, was her, sort of, adopted daughter Neopolitan. Said girl was currently sucking down ice cream without a care in the world, while Roma tried to figure out how to get out her deal with her new "employer".

The door to the small room creaked opened and in sashayed the woman that was the cause of all Roma's grief: Cinder Fall. _Speak of the devil and she shall appear_. She was the only woman to strike actual fear into Roma's heart, and she hadn't clawed her way to being queen of the underworld by facing easy opponents. Cinder strutted over, her two lackeys behind her at the door, and sat down on the catch that Neo was currently residing on.

Neo pretty quickly got up, ice cream bowl in hand, and made for the couch Roma was sitting on as Cinder flicked a lock of raven hair from her eyes.

"Now Roma, I understand the dust thefts that you have been carrying out have been going smoothly for the most part." Cinder asked smoothly.

"Yes, but we still have one more job to pull off before I think we've hit max load." Roma answered to her boss. Cinder smiled, a predatory look that most certainly was not humorous.

"Wonderful. I am impressed with your work so far, but I haven't come here for just a simple check up." There was that predatory smile again, Roma could feel her throat constrict slightly. "I would like to talk to you about Phase 2 of our little plan."

0-0-0-0

Blake walked through the hallways of Beacon, incredibly troubled by a dilemma that had plagued her mind for the past few weeks. She was oblivious to the other students around her as she tried to pick apart the nagging thought.

Should she tell her team about her heritage?

Part of her wanted to just do it to get it over with, surely her team would understand right? Ruby couldn't be racist, she was sure of that much, Yang was a pretty free and easy-going person so at worst she'd be mad she'd lied, and Pyrrha wouldn't say anything, not with her history of wanting to be accepted.

But another part of her, a part still rooted in the White Fang, warned her that there was a high possibility of her team also shunning her for her race. And, try as she might, she can't help but put some stock in those thoughts, even though she had promised to leave the fang behind. And then of course there was the secondary obstacle: Team ARSN.

They were a bit a trickier for one glaring reason. She knew for a fact Rin and Nora wouldn't mind, Nora would probably want to pet her ears, and Rin probably would be as unfazed as ever. Jaune, Jaune was a sort of wildcard in this situation; at the same time he seemed kind of distracted, so she doubted he would wholly care about her in any facet.

And then there was Weiss, heiress to the SDC corporation. She wouldn't lie that she hated everything Schnee, the same corporation that enslaved so many of her kind for such petty and foolish reasons as financial gain. But did being a Schnee mean Weiss was like that too?

Maybe so, maybe not. But that uncertainty was what was keeping her from revealing her heritage from her friends.

She was so oblivious to the world around her that she didn't notice the person walking out of Port's class in time. She bumped into the figure, and was about to say sorry when she got a good look at them.

"Jaune, what are you still doing in Port's?" Class had been ended over thirty minutes ago. Jaune scowled, although not at her, before shaking his head.

"Forget about it, I'm guessing your team still wants to head out tomorrow?"

"Yeah, you know how Yang is." Jaune grunted but didn't say anything, however he did catch something that interested him.

Years of working under someone like Qrow and you began to look for the little things. It helped him get along with her enough to know when she was drunk, hungover, or just in a bad mood. So it was pretty obvious, by the distant look, the worried expression, and subtle gestures, that something was bothering Blake.

"What's with you?"

"H-Huh? I mean, nothing." she sputtered, taken aback by the question.

"Today is not a good day to lie to me, so spill it."

Blake hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out something to say. "It's just, what if you knew something that no one else knew and you had kept hidden? Like a secret, sort of, and you were worried things would go wrong if you told somebody."

"What, you mean like your ears? Blake, your team is going to be fine about." Blake gaped like a fish for a few moments, before settling on a new question.

"How long have you known?"

"My advice? Buy a hat next time, the bow twitches." Blake blushed furiously as she touched the bow on her head, feeling how even now it twitched, to her further embarrassment.

Jaune sighed, kids these days "Look, Blake, your team isn't going to think less of you for it, and I certainly don't care about it. If you're worried about Weiss, don't be. She probably doesn't care, or else she would've been hanging around what's left of Team CRDL more."

Well, not a wholly bad way of thinking Blake thought to herself. Maybe Jaune was right, maybe they wouldn't judge her.

Blake steeled herself and decided to take action soon, not right now but when the time was right.

"Thanks Jaune, you're not a half bad councilor." she frowned slightly as Jaune got some kind of distant look before leaving without another word.

 _Strange, I wonder if everything is alright._

0-0-0-0

 **And there we have it folks, the chapter I had promised you all! Sorry for the lack of action here guys, but I feel like we need a quick detox from all the major drama going on. As you can see, this has a lot of dialogue in it and a wealth of flashbacks all of which are for good reasons. If you want to know why certain flashbacks were written the way they were, they were done so to illustrate that not everything Jaune remembered his childhood being like was true.**

 **Ironically, despite talking about "rose-tinted goggles", Jaune can be impressively blind to other things going. Like I said in a previous chapter, the theme of this story is written from what would be Jaune's perspective so it is written like everyone is always conspiring against Jaune even if they're not. Hope this clears things up because I need to start on the new chapter on "An Arc's Mad World."**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	12. Identity Issues

**Sorry about the delay for this chapter guys, I just got caught up doing so much stuff. But now I'm back and I'm not going anywhere for a long time. So expect some more chapters soon!**

0-0-0-0

Jaune felt tired, that world-weary kind of tired and he couldn't quite place down why. The weekend was fast approaching, and every day seemed to take more and more of it out of him. He had a few more sessions with Goodwitch and one with Oobleck, but they were both nothing noteworthy; Goodwitch, for all her stern demeanor, did have a soft spot for her students. He just wished that she didn't waste on him.

Nora bounced around the room, clearly excited at the prospect of a weekend out with both teams. Weiss still got irritated with the perky ginger, and Rin still sat there cleaning his guns, but it didn't mean anything. He just sat there on his bed, lethargic and uncaring as his team continued their antics. Truth be told, he had nothing left in him anymore; no more anger or hurt, and that left him with this weariness.

There were no more dreams, just an empty black void that let him dwell on his doubts. What was he doing here? He hadn't _done_ anything to earn his coveted freedom, his role in society had not changed in all the time he spent here, it just got a different lighting than before. He was still trapped, bound by a contract and subservient to the wishes of others. He couldn't even escape, at best he'd get out of Vale and then be captured by someone else or, at worst, he'd get caught before he even made it out of the school.

He decided to stop thinking about it for a bit, Jaune could feel the distant rumble of what might have been madness in the back of his mind. Weiss huffed at whatever Nora had just done -he had not been paying attention- before turning back to him, an unreadable expression on her face.

"What's got you moping around Arc?" she asked. "I would have thought you'd love to get out of Beacon for a weekend or so, especially after everything that's happened."

Yes, the whole Team CRDL fiasco. They were making a good recovery, and, from what he'd heard, their team was growing a little closer over the entire experience so there was a silver lining at least.

"I'm tired Weiss." was his simple response. Weiss frowned and exchanged a look with Rin but decided not to dwell on it.

"Oh come on guys! This weekend is gonna be so freaking cool!" Nora chanted, bouncing on her bed.

He sighed, maybe Nora had a point. Maybe he needed this more than ever, a chance to get out of this school and clear his head for a bit. The night finished in blissful silence, or atleast as close as one could get with Nora, and Jaune ended up hitting the hay a little earlier...

0-0-0-0

 **2 weeks earlier...**

The bar was run down and dingy. The kind of place people with no future go to make themselves feel better, in other words, a place that Qrow Branwen frequented quite, quite often. The master huntress sat there, heady drink in hand, thinking about what a shit day she had had. First, she got ambushed by every goddamn Grimm on the road (fuck her semblance), then she gets a surprise call from her boss, Ozpin, telling her in great detail how shit the situation at Beacon is with her student, and finally she had spilled two drinks just in the last hour.

Yep, today was a real shitshow.

Her student. A conundrum that made her want to drown herself in liquor until she couldn't tell left from right; not that she didn't want to deal with his issues, which she still didn't but you know, it's just that the damn kid was so hardheaded that she'd need a diamond drill to break through to him.

She was caught at a major crossroads when she left: stay and teach the kid while simultaneously hoping her semblance didn't kill him or leave him halfway through his teaching in the "capable" hands of Oobleck, Peach, and Port.

Again, not that they weren't experienced but she could tell where the kid was coming from to some extent. Lord knows she knew something about troublesome family, but that doesn't mean he didn't piss her off rightly sometimes.

She sighed and gulped down some more alcohol, hoping it would help chase the pesky thoughts away.

It didn't, and never has.

Ever since team STRQ fell apart things had only gotten bleaker. Raven went MIA and rejoined her merry band of bandits, Summer was murdered by the Queen and her allies, Titian settled down away from the troubles of the world, and Qrow was drinking to a grim past and a worst future.

Not to say she didn't have some light in her life, Yang certainly shone brightly enough for a hundred people and Ruby did her best to help those in need. And of course Jaune was there and, even though he'd rather commit hari kari than admit it, she knew that the boy cared about her more than she let on.

She sighed heavily and a drank some more, signalling the rather cute bartender to bring her another one. She pondered how things were at Beacon when she felt her scroll ping, cluing into the fact someone had just sent her a message.

 _Qrow, I need you for a very special misison. -Ozpin_

 _What kind of mission Oz? You usually don't call me with another mission when I'm out in the field. -Qrow_

 _Yes, I know, but this is important. I need you to make your way over to Haven before the Vytal students from Mistral ship off. Lionheart thinks that one of her teams isn't who they say they are, but she can't figure out which one. -Ozpin_

 _What are you thinking Oz, spies? -Qrow_

 _Perhaps, but I don't wish to take any chances with it. Head to Haven and be extremely subtle, one slip up could mean the end to this entire lead. -Ozpin_

 _Oh relax Olivia, when I have ever failed you? -Qrow_

 _Well there was that time in Vacuo... -Ozpin_

 _Touche -Qrow_

Qrow breathed deeply and picked herself up. Setting down some white lien cards at the counter she waved goodbye to the bartender and exited the comforts of the bar into a rather crisp night air.

Well, atleast the drink in Mistral isn't so bad.

0-0-0-0

"So, are you guys excited for this outing or what?" Yang cheered happily, her team and Team ARSN following behind her onto the bullheads that would take them into Vale. Truth be told just about everyone was ready to get away from the school for a little bit, if for different reasons.

"So, what do we plan on doing first?" Pyrrha asked the group which decided to think on it for a moment while the bullhead took flight. Well, everyone but Nora and Jaune thought about as the latter was trying to not vomit and the former didn't care.

"Well, I say we go visit the docks first. That way, we can view any of our competitors that will be coming to join us for the Vytal Festival." Weiss said professionally, Ruby hummed in agreement while Yang teased her over the true motive behind viewing the new competitors.

When they arrived in Vale, the group set out for the docks and their oncoming ships arriving there in no time flat. Incidentally, at the same time they had arrived, there appeared to be some kind of commotion going down at the docks. Two sailors were shouting at a blonde monkey faunus who leaped from the railing of the boat and onto the wooden docks exclaiming her skill as a stowaway.

Said faunus raced out of the docks and onto the street where both ARSN and RYBN occupied. As the blonde stowaway dashed past the front of the group, his eye caught a certain cat faunus hiding among her visibly human teammates. Smiling her usual charming smile and winking at her in a drive-by flirt, she did not see the sudden fist that rocketed into her stomach.

Faunus or not, the girl was a stowaway and that didn't sit all to well with the leader of Team ARSN. It's not that he had anything against the girl, but she had to meet with the frigid bitch known as karma sooner or later.

Blondie pulled herself up, hacking and coughing from the blow as she tried to make sense of her surroundings and subsequent attacker. "Fucking shit man! Where'd that bus come from?"

The group finally got a good look at the stowaway revealing to be, indeed, a monkey faunus sporting a bright yellow tail. She was dressed in a white, short-sleeved collared shirt that was open to reveal a hefty portion of herself as well as a pair of jeans and sneakers. Her more... feminine parts were covered with a swath of bandages acting as a binder.

"And who might you be?" Jaune asked critically, if she was just some random hobo then they'd either turn her in or let her run. He truly did not care which. The blonde, for her part, wilted under the combined gazes of 8 hunters.

"Oh, hehehe, nice to meet you I'm Sunny Wukong, but my friends just call me Sun." she chuckled nervously, Jaune had a moment where he remembered his family's maid back home of the same name.

"And what are you doing here, _Sun_?" Weiss asked icily, no pun intended, shooting a harsh glare down at the faunus. Sun wilted even harder under the girl's stares but still managed to stammer out a reply.

"W-Well you see I'm here for this tournament thing in Vale. And you know my team wanted to stay home for a little longer b-but I wanted to come here earlier but there were no ships I could get on s-so I just thought I could hop on that one you know?" she tried to chuckle again but it came out more in a wheeze.

"Riiight, well I suppose we'll just have to report you to the police _and_ your academy then Miss Wukong." Weiss stated in that "Professional Schnee Heiress" voice as Nora called.

Sun paled and tried to choke out some excuse, but Blake ended up saving her ass from the fire so to speak. "I hardly think that's necessary do you Weiss? While I don't condone her actions, she doesn't need to be jailed."

Weiss huffed but didn't give up. "Is that so? Well I think she is a criminal who deserves to be brought to justice."

"She's hardly a threat, more than that she is a huntress like us." Blake shot back, obviously ruffled. _Oh gee, I wonder why?_ Jaune thought with a roll of his eyes, seriously, if she wanted to confess this is not where he would start.

"Even more reason to bring her in then, she is a huntress like us and should be able to handle the personal responsibility of being a good citizen and person." Weiss said, and she kinda had a point too.

"So what, we should lock her up and throw away the key?" Blake barked, no pun intended, back at the ice queen.

"When did I say that? When did I imply I wanted that to happen? I'm not some ironhearted authoritarian you know." Weiss snapped back, obviously offended at the blatant accusation.

"Are you sure the reason you want her jailed is because she is a stowaway? Or is it for a different reason?" Blake asked coldly, Jaune cursed under his breath and rolled his eyes. Weiss stood there gaping before becoming angry at the hidden faunus.

"How- How dare you!? Are you assuming just because I'm a Schnee I have some kind of vendetta against faunus kind?" Yep, little did Blake know, she had hit Weiss's number one sore spot.

"Well your family certainly has made their opinions clear."

"Oh put it back in the deck Blake." Jaune muttered, he then tried to fight a wince as Blake looked at him with angry, somewhat betrayed, eyes. Meanwhile the rest of the team's eyes swiveled between the two, not willing to get in between them.

"You two- I just- arrgh!" Blake cried, before storming off on her own, her team following behind her and Ruby shooting an apologetic glance over at Jaune. Now it was just the merry team alone with themselves and a faunus...

And Sun had run off at some other time when they were arguing. Great.

Weiss breathed deeply and reigned in her emotions. "Apologies, I let my anger get the better of me."

"For what it's worth, I think you were right." Jaune mumbled, Weiss perked up slightly but otherwise showed no emotion. Rin sighed and Nora tried to lighten the mood with an exclamation that she wanted pancakes.

Sighing and understanding she wouldn't stop until she got said treat Rin looked up on her scroll a cafe/bakery they could stop in at. The mood and plans for a co-team outing were ruined by the combined forces of a Schnee and a faunus.

Speaking of said faunus, Jaune wondered what got her so upset. _It's not Blake was one to give into her emotions, maybe this whole "revealing her true self" got her kinda frazzled_ Jaune thought to himself, arriving at the cafe with his team and getting a seat.

While Nora ordered her mountain of pancakes, Weiss tried to let off some steam in her own way.

"I just- Why would she say that?" something ugly passed over her face. "I am _not_ my mother. And I never will be. I get that my mother's company has committed atrocities against faunus, but _I_ didn't."

"Don't take it personally Weiss, I think Blake is dealing with her own things." Jaune explained which got her to calm down a little bit. Their food arrived and they ate in relative quiet what with Nora sucking down her food with the force of a black hole.

Suddenly Jaune's scroll pinged and he saw he had a message from Ruby.

 _Hey Jaune check out this girl we found! -Ruby_

Attached to the text was a picture of a strange ginger girl who was obviously not normal. Her stare was a little too... solid for what should have been a normal picture. Felt like she was staring into his soul.

Jaune chuckled dryly and sipped some more coffee, Rin noticed this and decided to ask. "Something funny?"

"Apparently Team RYBN found a new friend." he said, showing the picture to his team who had mixed reactions. Like him, Weiss thought she was weird, Rin thought nothing of it, and Nora found a potential new friend to have adventures with.

They finished their food and paid Nora's, hefty, bill as well as their own and opted to go on a short walk. They just window shopped or talked about various things before they wound up on the topic of the Vytal Festival.

"Well, I am proud to say we _will_ be getting into such a prestigious event." Weiss said, injecting some ferocity into her voice.

"Hmm, yes I suppose it could be a good way to showcase our skills." Rin chimed in.

"Ooh! Ooh! And I can break some legs right fearless leader!?" Nora shouted, looking at Jaune with hopeful eyes.

Jaune himself was rather impassive on the subject. On one hand, he could get some valuable experience with fighting against those from other schools and such, but, on the other hand, the last thing he wanted was to be on the world stage.

However, knowing Weiss's temper and Nora's excitement, it would seem he would have no choice. He was sure of their abilities to qualify, so he supposed he'd just need to see how things got along.

"Well, I for one can't wait to display my skills and pride as a Schnee heiress." Weiss remarked, bringing a hand to her chest. "I'm more than confident in my skills, and it would show how far I've come."

"Who exactly are you showing off to?" Jaune questioned causing her expression to falter slightly.

"M-My sister, Winter, of course." Jaune's lips curled in distaste at the memory of the women and her superior. "And perhaps such news of my victory will show mother that I belong here."

Ah, so that was it. Well, far be it from to get involved in such affairs such as high-class family drama, lord knows he's had enough of that. The sudden thought brought him back to a conundrum of his: What would he do if his parents came to see him before the Vytal Festival. The easiest answer was to avoid them, but that would prove to be near impossible as visiting parents get to go to the class of their children and eat with them at lunch.

But, of course, that assumes his parents would come to visit him. After all, they could no longer get what they want from him so what would be the point? The logic eased his thoughts but not his heart, but he had grown used to such things.

His team walked around Vale some more before the alarm to go back went off from his scroll. Team ARSN made their way back to the bullhead docks and met up with the still rather awkward Team RYBN. He and Ruby made an executive decision to keep their arguing subordinates away from eachother on the ride back, but the conversation, and atmosphere, was still rather dry.

When they got back to the dorm rooms the members still willing to talk with eachother said their goodnights and retired to their respective rooms. Team ARSN decided to go pretty much straight to bed without doing much else, they were all rather drained from the day.

The dream from days prior still plagued him. More so than he let on even to himself, the logic was sound and based in undeniably evidence he himself had witnessed and heard. However, he guessed that following the arguments of a hallucination was how you ended up killing in the name of god or some other weird, schizophrenic crap that he didn't need.

Still, something about the whole situation bugged him. He was temperamental, liable to go off the rails sometimes, and stubborn as a mule, sure, but he wasn't one to have vivid nightmares where an alternate you makes you question everything you believe to be real. He was hesitant to tell Goodwitch or the teachers, despite the fact his therapy sessions were designed for such reasons like self-doubt, due to the fact they would A) Not likely take it too well B) Use it as a sure argument against his mental health and C) Have him either incarcerated in a looney bin or get shipped back to Atlas and into the clutches of that damned Ironwood.

Maybe that was what made the hallucination so real, so scary. That it had a definitive point against him, his situation really _hadn't_ changed in all the time he spent running away from home. It didn't help that he was almost completely devoid of options, I mean, it wasn't like some new player on the board was going to offer him a one-way ticket out of here right?

0-0-0-0

Cinder smirked as she watched the White Fang grunts move back and forth on the warehouse floor, moving supplies and dust between themselves to different hideouts. Behind her were her two most trusted pawns: Emerald Sustrai and Marren Black. Both of them had their undoubted uses, and their skills would be essential for her plans in the future.

However, her smirk was not one belonging to her plans. Or rather, it did, but not in the same way, you see, her mistress had recently shared a small side project she had been working at. Cinder had, of course, heard and seen the boy who claimed to have aura but she had not been extremely impressed from the start. But, if her master's words rang true, then the boy had suddenly grown more interesting.

Forcing someone to do something through power and intimidation worked for people like Roma and Aruna just fine. But for someone more _delicate_ like their dear Jaune here, one needed to be subtle and clever. Her mistress had already placed the seeds of doubt into the boy's head, and knowing his type, they would soon blossom into a full-fledged breakdown where he would be far too easy to swoop in on.

The trick was to destroy any allegiance to the old hag and the bitch herself had been doing that quite finely. More than that, the boy, this Jaune Arc, seemed to have quite the negative emotions boiling inside of him and a very short fuse. From her mistress's report it seemed the boy needed only a small push in the right direction before he went berserk on those buffoons.

Yes, with a semblance powered by negativity he would make a fine pawn to her. There was, however, one issue that irked her slightly: Qrow Branwen. That rugged carrion bird had wormed her way into the naive fool's heart and trained him for nearly a year, and training from someone like Qrow, even for a short amount of time, is nothing to scoff at. That crow could be amazingly focused when she needed to be, and even she herself would not face such an opponent without having the deck stacked entirely against her.

It was a good thing she had been lead to Mistral by the good headmistress herself. Cinder's spies had located the drunk stumbling her way into Mistral most likely looking for any suspicious persons heading to Vale for the Vytal Festival. Cinder knew the old woman in that tower was not entirely stupid, Ozpin knew that if anything were to happen anywhere it would be at the Vytal Festival. Rumbling from Atlas foretold of Ironwood herself coming to provide security which worked perfectly into her plans.

She licked her lips at the carnage about to be brought down upon the hopeless fools from Beacon. Her plans had been in motion for years upon years and now, now they were coming to fruition. Cinder was a woman of patience, of plotting, and of deceit, and more than that she knew how to think on her feet.

Even now, the clever agent of darkness began to include the boy in her plans against that old crone Olivier Ozpin. She laughed darkly to herself, sometimes it was fun to just set everything up and watch it all fall into place perfectly.

"Ma'am? Is there something we she know?" Emerald asked quietly, the girl had always had a dependency of Cinder. It was fine, she supposed, it kept her loyalties clear as crystal atleast.

"It's fine Emerald, just that we may have a new player joining us very soon."

0-0-0-0

Blake snuck out of her room in the dead of night, focused on her moral dilemma once more: to reveal her faunus heritage or not. Despite the conversation with Jaune yesterday, her decision was no more swinging towards secrecy. She supposed that going off on Weiss for something she couldn't control didn't help her at all, nor did the fact that Sun had escaped while they were arguing make her feel any less guilty.

Truth be told, she didn't have anything against Weiss. But the SDC did horrible things to their faunus laborers, that was undeniable, and her former affiliation to the White Fang still cut to the marrow of herself. It was one thing to be faunus, but if her team found out that she was former Fang, if _Weiss_ or Jaune found out she was former Fang?

The cold shoulder would be the least of her worries.

Weiss was arrogant and snobby, but down to earth which meant that she would report her to Professor Goodwitch herself if need be. And Jaune, she wasn't sure how Jaune would quite react but the punching of Sun without hesitation clued her in to his line of thinking.

Overall she was without a lot of options.

Unless...

The Fang had been operating in the city, so maybe if she could catch them in the act she could prove her loyalty. However, there were more than a few problems with that, such as: where would they be operating? When would they be operating? Could she face them alone? Could she even _prove_ her motivations to her team, or worse Ozpin?

She came to the statue in the courtyard. A fine sculpture depicting the great huntress of old as many called her, a solid rock of courage and honor that comforted her occasionally.

Would that old huntress had protected someone like her? A faunus? A terrorist?

She slipped the bow off her head and let her ears feel the wind that blew throughout the empty stone pavement.

"I knew you looked better without the bow."

0-0-0-0

 **Done and done! I hope you guys liked this chapter even though it's a little short. Yes I had to change Adam's name to Aruna, don't break out your pitchforks. But beyond that I thought this chapter was ok, the next one will take place down at the docks and you know how that's going to go.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	13. Fight Night

**Hey everybody we have a new chapter for you guys. Special shoutout to my Beta SabletKnight, he's been a huge help in making this story a lot better. Sorry this one took so long I've been trying to get my school stuff together as I go to community college. But that's enough about me, enjoy this chapter fellas.**

0-0-0-0

Blake sat on the balcony of a small cafe with her newfound friend Sunny, or rather, Sun. It had only been a day since Sun had found her standing without her bow at the statue, and Blake had decided to take the day off from her team to talk with this rogue faunus.

"So, are you going to say something?" Sun asked, using her tail to hold her cup.

Blake sighed. Her attitude drained the poor cat faunus and it only added onto a litany of other problems on her plate. "What is it you brought me here for Sun?"

"Finally she speaks! 2 hours of small talk and dirty looks finally earned me something huh?" Sun sipped her tea and Blake just glared at her. "Yeah you see! Like that!"

"Sun, do you know about the White Fang?" Sun nodded her head, every faunus knew of the organization for better or worse. "Well, I used to be a part of it."

Sun choked on her tea for a moment as she processed the information. Sure Blake was a capable huntress, but Sun wouldn't have pegged her for a terrorist. Seeing the apprehensive look on her companion's face Blake sighed. "Yeah, I know how that sounds."

"Really? Because it sounds like 10-12 years in prison to me." Sun quipped but quickly shut up when Blake sent another, harsher glare her way.

"Trust me, I know what it means for me." Blake then began to recall her time in the White Fang, how it changed from peaceful protests to organized riots, and how she left when it became too much.

After she was done, there wasn't much to fill the awkward silence between the two on the account that there were practically no customers in the large outside area they were sitting in.

After a moment to collect herself, Blake continued. "But, I want to try and change things. The White Fang is no longer attacking just human supremacists and corrupt business men, but now they have begun to steal dust and move to attacking crowds of innocent people, regardless of race. I can't let that go, so I've resolved to try and find the White Fang myself if need be."

Sun looked at her stone faced, the most serious Blake had ever seen the monkey faunus so far. "Do you even know where they'd be operating?"

"I was hoping you might know Sun."

She took a moment to think about that, scratching her chin. "Well, while I was on that boat, I heard some of the sailors talking about a dust shipment arriving in Vale soon. If the Fang is stealing dust, then that'd be the place where they'd most likely be."

Blake nodded. "And where would this be then?"

"The shipping docks of course, but as for the time I have no clue. I guess that means we'll have to hang around there for awhile."

Blake breathed deeply and let it out in a sigh. "I suppose I should be thanking you for all your help Sun, and I won't fault you if you don't want to risk your life on this."

"Not a problem Blakey, just helping a friend in need." Sun winked at her, before turning slightly more serious. "Have you told your team about this yet, Blake?"

Blake said nothing for a moment, before leaving some money and exiting the cafe.

0-0-0-0

"All I'm saying is that her sneaking off could mean more than you think!" Weiss said to Ruby, both teams having gathered in RYBN's room.

"Not helping, Weiss." Ruby grit out, partially due to the fact that it wasn't really helpful and partially due to how her attitude had somewhat irked Ruby. Pyrrha nodded her head slightly towards her leader, as she too questioned the whereabouts of her partner Blake.

"Look, guys, getting angry and throwing out opinions won't help." Yang started, trying to soothe tensions. "How about we go into the Eastern section of Vale, where more Faunus live, and you guys check around the shops?"

Weiss scoffed at the notion. "Why should we? Blake isn't our teammate anymore! Furthermore, she could very well be in league with the Fang!"

Yang rose to face her and the rest of RYBN followed suit, but they were all cut off by Jaune. "Enough! This arguing isn't helping my massive headache, so here's the plan: Yang, you and your team go to the Eastern District while my team follows the shops and center square of Vale."

Yang didn't say anything but nodded and turned to leave with her team, by the time they were out the door Weiss had turned to face him. "And what gives you the right to order us around?"

"Ugh, he's our leader Weiss." Rin pointed out helpfully, Weiss huffed but didn't say anything more.

"Weiss, I get it. She made wild accusations about your family and you and that's obviously a sore spot, so I get it. But a little compassion for your fellow huntress could be helpful in the search." Jaune reasoned with her.

"Compassion? The way I see it, the only time Blake decided to talk to me was to pick a fight, so I doubt she would have the same compassion if the roles were reversed." Weiss said, clenching her fists. "People who like to think the world owes them something, even when it isn't my fault. People back in Atlas when they wanted something from my father's company, when they thought they could just whisk me away with some stupid marriage, or every person that tried to get in good with me back home. Those people? They're the ones I hate the most."

Jaune took a moment to read her, and then made for the door. "Well, then you can at least fake the compassion."

Rin and Nora exchanged glances but followed their leader out the door, leaving Weiss alone to decide for herself.

"Dammit Blake, you owe me for this."

The door clicked shut with slightly more force than necessary.

0-0-0-0

 **4 hours later…**

Team ARSN had been scouring the whole city non-stop since arriving, and not a hide nor hare of their wayward companion showed itself. Weiss had been ready to give up after the 30 minute mark, but Nora had badgered her into staying. Still, Jaune couldn't deny that the search was beginning to grate on him as well, four hours of fruitless searching seemed to be enough in his book.

The day had slowly receded into the time between evening and dusk , giving just enough light to see where they were going. They were all armed with their weapons in case they found Blake in a potentially compromising situation.

"Friend Jaune, Friend Nora, where are we going?" chirped the ginger-haired girl from behind them. She had just randomly shown up in their search and introduced herself as Penny, Ruby's friend. Jaune just kinda rolled with it and didn't pay attention to her, and Nora talked to her enough for four people already, so it kinda worked out.

"I don't know Penny." Jaune growled, and the fact that he didn't know made him more irritable.

"I sense that you are angry, is that my fault Friend Jaune?"

"No, it isn't."

"Sensational!"

"Does she have an off switch?" Weiss groaned.

"Negative, my father did not make me with one!"

"What?" Jaune asked.

"Nothing Friend Jaune, nothing!" she chirped, although her smile seemed slightly more forced this time.

Another aspect as to why this search had grown tiresome: Team RYBN hadn't found anything so far and they too had begun to give up barring Ruby's frantic protests. Searching into the night was tiring for everyone. Maybe they could try again tomorrow after class was done, and if not then maybe it was over for Blake Belladonna. Blake was known for being the stealthiest out of all of them, and add on her enhanced faunus senses and she could run circles around them if she wanted to.

Suddenly, as though God himself bestowed upon them a miracle of clarity, an explosion erupted from down near the docks, marked by a great plume of smoke.

"Well, I suppose we found a new place to search." Jaune said, he turned to Rin and Nora. "Go get Team RYBN and bring them here, I'll tell them you're coming."

Nora saluted and sped off with Rin in tow as Jaune turned to Weiss. "If you're deciding whether or not you want to give Blake another shot, now's the time."

Weiss sighed angrily. "Oh please. Nora will never let me hear the end of it and you'll just end up brooding some more, so let's quit wasting time."

"Sensational! I will come along as well!" Penny cheered.

"No Penny, this could be dangerous for you." Jaune said like a stern father would.

"Have no fear Friend Jaune, I'm combat ready!"

 _Combat rea-? You know what, fuck it. Fine._ He motioned for her to follow and they sprinted towards the docks and the distant sounds of fighting. The group arrived to see a small squad of White Fang and a woman in a white overcoat battling Blake and Sun, the monkey faunus from yesterday.

"Hmm, that's not good." Jaune thought aloud, he'd have to be stupid not to recognize the woman. Roma Torchwick, underworld boss in Vale and a badass in her own right, nothing to say of her pint sized, and rather murderous, assistant Neopolitan.

He watched as Blake took a direct hit from Roma's pimp cane/ flare gun weapon sending her flying across the docks. Meanwhile, Sun mopped up straggling Fang members before switching out and engaging Roma directly using some sort of nunchuck shotguns.

Even with the two of them, though, he knew that this was a losing fight. Qrow told him about Torchwick and gave a pretty accurate rundown of her strength, the criminal's experience and underhanded fighting style putting her on par with some of the Beacon teachers.

Switching Tesla Sting into railgun mode he moved to get a clearer shot up on a roof of one of the buildings surrounding the fight. Kneeling, he aimed the barrel towards Roma, who was currently caught up in deflecting Sun's barrage of attacks.

Suddenly, Blake charged in and hit her with an aura-infused strike using Gambol Shroud, sending the criminal flying back. Roma shot up angrily and fired another flare into a cargo crate overhead, dropping it on the two huntresses.

Luckily, before it crashed onto them, Blake and Sun managed to jump out of the way in time. While Roma took a moment to gather herself, Jaune charged Tesla Sting with his aura. The reactor and gun glowed an eerie blue before the shot was released, a single beam of electrical energy surging towards its target.

Roma barely managed to get block it in time but it still connected sending the thief rocketing backwards and throwing her flat on her ass. Jaune could hear her curses even from his vantage point before he dropped down and ran into the fight, Weiss and Penny following closely behind him.

Blake turned to look at them and something passed between her and Jaune. A hidden understanding of the situation as the five turned to face Roma who once outnumbered, was now surrounded. Torchwick did not get to where she was by taking losing bets, and she knew when it was time to exit stage left, so to speak.

"Well kids, I can't say it hasn't been fun but I think I left the stove on." quipped the master criminal, smirking despite the situation. Above them, the sounds of Bullheads whirring over them made it known that they now had company. While more White Fang grunts jumped from the airships to land around them, Torchwick laughed and made for the nearest bullhead behind them.

"Roma Torchwick!" Blake shouted furiously, using Gambol Shroud to bypass the surrounding grunts and make a break for the dangerous thief. Dammit, she can't possibly fight her alone! Jaune mentally cursed, he took a look at his surroundings and hoped that his friends could clear a path for him, at least until he could get to Blake. With a mighty war whoop, he charged straight into the Fang in front of him, shouting to Weiss for backup.

She obliged, creating glyphs that enhanced his speed and sending thick shards of ice at the enemies around them. Still, it wasn't enough; They were too outnumbered to simply run past all the grunts. Two of the white-robed terrorists charged, swords drawn, and attempted to slash at him. Jaune brought up his sword to block it but stopped when two unknown blades rushed forward and sliced into the rogues confronting him.

"Like I said Friend Jaune, Friend Weiss, I'm combat ready!" shouted Penny, leaping into the fray as more of the small blades shot out from some kind of backpack located on her back. The blades swirled like a cyclone before launching towards the faunus around them. Fang that survived being impaled or otherwise slashed to some extent turned and tried to engage the newest imminent threat.

Seeing an opening Jaune rushed for Blake once more, who had caught up to Torchwick and was currently fighting her to the same extent as she was before. That is to say, Blake was quickly losing ground as Torchwick overwhelmed her with superior skill. Muttering curses under his breath he channeled aura into his legs for a burst of speed, catching up just in time to parry a strike from Roma's cane.

Jaune stabbed at her but she countered it with an ease he had only seen from Qrow before. Roma spun and delivered a strike to the side of his head with the handle of Melodic Cudgel that sent him reeling. She pressed the offensive and stabbed at him with the front of her cane before releasing another shot; Jaune rolled out of the way just in time and sliced diagonally to send her back. Chuckling to herself, Roma fired a flare and hooked it with the handle of her cane before whipping it at the two young hunters in a slash of fire. Jaune ducked under while Blake jumped over it and began to hack at Torchwick. The criminal continued to evade with relative ease before she fired another shot, sending the cat faunus back.

"Blake get back!" he shouted, barely avoiding another swipe. "She won't underestimate us like before!"

"No! Torchwick is the only one who might know what's going on! We need to apprehend her!" Blake shouted back, covering him from another strike as they both teamed up against her.

"Blake, this isn't how things should've gone!" Jaune shouted back, slicing downward and narrowly missing Roma's shoulder.

"Yeah Blake, you should've thought this through more." Roma teased, making Blake growl in annoyance.

"Enough!" Blake swipe horizontally and blew back the criminal slightly, she charged in with a shout and swiped again with the sheath of Gambol Shroud. Torchwick hooked said sheath and elbowed Blake in the face that sent her stumbling back; Roma then gripped the handle of the cane fluidly before firing another shot that screamed towards the cat faunus.

 _Dammit Blake._ It was all he could think of as he intercepted the shot. He hadn't been far enough to properly block it and instead ending up taking the brunt of the explosion himself. His world exploded into white for a brief moment before he found himself back on the hard concrete, a deep throbbing pain in his chest. He tried to sit up, to hear anything but his ears rang like church bells.

He thought he could hear the distant calling of someone, maybe Blake or even Weiss, but he wasn't sure. Looking around didn't yield much help either, the darkness around him didn't agree with the sudden influx of light he had just experienced and his senses were working overtime to get things up and running again. All of the sudden, he felt, more than he saw, someone kneel down beside him.

More distant shouting although this time it sounded more like a small group of people. His vision cleared somewhat and he saw Blake overlooking him in obvious distress, she was saying something that still seemed hard to interpret.

"B-Blake?" he choked out, surprised at the dryness of his throat.

"J...-ome...! He-...! Jau...!" he saw her saying something to him, but the sounds didn't quite get through.

His vision swam and things grew darker as he grew more tired. Maybe he'd just go to sleep for a bit, he'd wake up a little later when things had calmed down. Yeah, that'd be good.

...

0-0-0-0

 **1 hour later…**

Blake, Team RYBN, and the conscious members of Team ARSN sat in a police camp set up. All of them were currently being chewed out by Goodwitch who seemed to have an earful for almost every one of them. Turns out, Jaune would be ok for the time being at least, the blast had taken more out of him than he thought. He would be unconscious for awhile, but he should make a full recovery with the help of his aura.

"What were you thinking? That you'd take on a known, dangerous criminal with just the two of you!?" Goodwitch shouted, clearly exasperated. "Miss Belladonna, your actions speak of a clear inability to reason with a level head. I will be speaking with a board of your teachers to discuss your punishment, and let it be known expulsion will be on the list of possible disciplinary actions."

Blake swallowed but to no avail. She watched Goodwitch stalk away and talk to the officers on the situation, leaving Blake alone with her fellow peers.

"So," Yang began. "Want to explain things from the beginning?"

"I just- As you could guess I'm a faunus, and I wasn't sure whether or not to tell you guys." Blake began. "I get that you're my team, but you have to understand there was a reason I was formerly associated with the White Fang. I was treated like dirt for having a different set of ears, and I was afraid of just seeing more of the same here, even if you guys were on my team."

Blake looked to Weiss. "When the whole thing with Sun happened, I guess I was under so much pressure that it just boiled over and I lashed out. I didn't mean anything Weiss, you're not your family. You are so much more than just a Schnee. I'm sorry."

Weiss was silent for a moment while all eyes were on her. "Jaune's lying in a hospital because he took an attack for you that wouldn't have happened if you never came to this place. Now we're without a leader and you could get expelled; I don't believe any of it was worth it. But, if you, by some miracle, don't get expelled, I'd be willing to call things even, at least for now. If for no other reason than Jaune doesn't need us fighting."

Blake nodded and returned her eyes to the ground while she filled in the gaps about her life and heritage.

"Ever since I can remember I've always been talked down to for being who I am. Every day when I was a kid I lived in fear that the person next to me would just start treating me like some kind of monster. Not a person, but a thing to be feared. I wasn't the only one either; that was essentially the way of life for Faunus back then."

"So, when you have so many people living in fear for so long, then there's bound to be a breaking point. When it all boils over. And that point was when the White Fang started. If you know your history then you'll know that the White Fang was originally a peaceful organization, using protests and strikes to get their messages across. And for a time, I felt like I was really doing something." Blake took a moment to recollect her thoughts.

"Every boycott and protest I was there, holding a sign and doing my part. I have my fair share of scars to prove it to, but it was never enough. In the end, the world was ruled by humans so they didn't care what we had to say. This continued on and on and on, for years, and yet Faunus were still beaten down and discriminated."

"After that, it wasn't long before a new idealism emerged in the crowds of Faunus protesters. Some people believed we needed to fight back against our human oppressors, and I was one of those people. Every rally I'd see innocent civilians get beaten for doing nothing wrong and I was sick of it. So I joined in to that way of thinking and soon enough we had more than 75% of the organization on board."

"Our former leader didn't agree with us, saying that ruling through fear would get us nowhere. And, looking back on it, he was right. Even so we didn't believe him, and we forced him to step down after that. When he did, our new leader took the Fang in a different direction; taking down discriminating businesses and fighting back against the human tyranny. And, for a time, it worked better than years of protesting did. People paid attention to us, they regarded what we wanted and our leaders met with humans to get new laws passed. But it just kept devolving into something more twisted, something where members wouldn't mind killing innocents to drive home a point. The White Fang had become a terrorist group, and I couldn't be a part of it anymore, so I left."

By the end Pyrrha had wrapped her partner in a hug and sniffled slightly.

"I'm sorry we couldn't help you Blake." Pyrrha said apologetically.

"N-No, it wasn't your fault Pyrrha..." Blake began but stopped when Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Blake, Team RYBN stands by each other no matter what!" Blake smiled slightly at that, she guessed that she really was more than a little naive to think her teammates would flat out abandon her.

"Well if this is done we're going to check on Jaune." Rin said, she and her teammates got up and left after that, making their way towards the ambulance holding the downed leader.

Penny had left in a car that held some of her "colleagues" as she herself described them. The car sped away pretty fast so they must have been in a hurry to be somewhere, or maybe they just didn't want to stick around. No one would blame them either.

In the car, Penny sat in the back as the two guards assigned to her chastised her about her reckless behavior. "-And what if you got hurt Penny? What would your father say?"

"I know, I'm sorry." Penny said quietly, the drive let out a sigh for a moment.

"I don't mean to scold you Penny, but you're an important person right now." The Atlas guard smiled slightly. "And those people back there? You make some new friends?"

"Oh yes! Friend Jaune and Friend Nora are my favorites! But, Friend Weiss is kind of crabby."

The driver laughed along with her companion. "That's great Penny, you can tell the General all about it when we get back."

Penny smiled and nodded. It was really cool to have friends wasn't it?

0-0-0-0

 **Ok there's another chapter for you guys. I hope you liked it as we move into Season 2, but I will be the first to admit I'm not the best at writing fight scenes especially in big groups. It's also probably not a good idea to write with a minor concussion either, but I needed this chapter to be out. Also, if you feel that the characters are slightly OOC at any time, I just chalk it up to the AU tag.**

 **Anyways thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**


	14. Rise and Shine

**Well guys I finally got this in for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it as this story is becoming very hard to write so far, and I'm thinking of taking a break for it. It wouldn't be an indefinite hiatus but it would be a small while before I would begin writing for this again, just until I can figure our what I'm doing with this. As such, I'm going to create a poll soon for a story you guys would like to replace this one with.**

 **I hope you guys understand, and I know a lot of people are invested in this story so don't worry I AM COMING BACK TO THIS ONE.** **Thank you guys for listening to me ramble for a bit, and enjoy the chapter.**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

0-0-0-0

 _Jaune was back in that place from before. The sort of half-remembered place from the night awhile ago. Colors mixed into a sort of grayish blur and shapes were little more than blobs, save for the lone figure in front of him._

 _Its suit was more ragged now, the edges frayed and tattered and the tie loosened. Despite the younger visage the face seemed older, more defined with what looked to be small bruises and blemishes that stood out glaringly against the white skin. The veins had gotten worse, no longer were they almost entirely tucked behind the color but instead they crawled upwards and over his chin, nearly reaching his eyes._

 _"It's been awhile, hasn't it?"_

 _"What?" Jaune asked, the scene more of a throwback to the first time this happened._

 _"Jaune, Jaune, Jaune. You really are slow on the uptake aren't you?" the figure sighed, disappointed. "No matter, your intelligence is not what I'm here to discuss. No, what I want to know is if you've given any thought to what I said before?"_

 _"No I-"_

 _"You can't lie to me Jaune, I'm you." he chuckled mirthlessly. "I know it's been eating away at you, my words I mean. You can admit it, I do find I'm able to raise good points."_

 _"Shut it, and get me out of here!" Jaune yelled, raising a fist in a fruitless display of anger._

 _"That temper, it's always gotten us into trouble hasn't it? Besides the point, I know, but what I really want to know is why haven't you taken that first step into a truly free life?" The hideous doppleganger said, gesturing to Jaune. "If it wasn't enough beforehand to make you want to leave how about now? You try to help that cat faunus and what does it get you? A missile into your chest."_

 _"I knew what I was getting into, I didn't help Blake without knowing I could get hurt."_

 _"Fair enough, but did you not warn her to stay away from Torchwick? And then, if I'm remembering correctly, you took a bullet for that girl because she wouldn't let up correct?" the not-Jaune tapped a finger against its head in contemplation._

 _"That's irrelevant, I would've done it again." Jaune hissed at the creature, to which said creature just shrugged._

 _"Seems like a monstrous waste of potential to go get yourself killed protecting some brat who'll forget about you in no time."_

 _"I- No they wouldn't do that. I'm a team leader!" Jaune stammered for a moment before recovering._

 _"Oh? Did I strike a nerve?"_

 _"Shut. It." Jaune gritted out, the creature looked more amused than intimidated but brought its hands up in a show of complacency._

 _"Ok Ok, didn't mean to get your knickers in a twist, but, before you go, I have just 3 questions for you." the figure said, raising three fingers and lowering sequentially. "1: What is it that you're truly doing here? 2: Do you truly mind hurting people for personal gain? And 3: If given the opportunity, would you abandon this place in return for true freedom? That's all for now- and Jaune, do remember: There will always be someone with an opportunity for you, as long as you want to find them."_

 _The rest of the scene turned to static as Jaune was pulled out into the waking world once more._

0-0-0-0

White. White, white, white. That's all Jaune saw as he woke. Wight and bright light, both of which helped supplement his theory that he had died and was in the afterlife.

 _Funny, I thought hell would be in a much darker color._ he tried to sit up when he was suddenly confronted by the awe-inspiring amount of aching pain in his chest. He tried to gasp in surprise but it came out more of a broken wheeze than anything before he gave up with a grunt and fell back on the bed. The blur from the lights was beginning to die down a bit which gave him some time to look at his surroundings.

Well, the plus side was that he was not, in fact, dead and in hell, but instead in a Hospital of some kind. White beds littered the room he was in, only two of which were occupied by someone he couldn't make out. Jaune gave a tired sigh and let the minutes tick away in his hospital room.

That lasted all of 5 minutes before he needed to do something before he went crazy. Leaning over to the desk on the side he noticed a small glass of water, it was lukewarm as he took but that was the least of his concerns. He downed the thing in nearly one gulp before breathing a sigh of relief and falling back onto the bed, wincing as the shock sent a throb through his chest.

"Finally up?" came a sickeningly familiar voice from one of the occupied beds.

"C-Cressida?" he asked, brow furrowing.

"Yeah, it's me you ass. Hopefully you'll stop all that whining from now on." the redheaded brute muttered bitterly. "Keeping me up all damn night..."

"What are you doing here?" Jaune winced as he immediately realized the stupid question.

"Are you serious?"

"Sorry, I forgot for a moment."

"Good to know you're keeping us in your prayers." she snorted. "My Russel and Sky have been dismissed "tentatively" as they called it, while Dove and I have to stay here for extra checkups."

"I-I'm sorry, Cressida. I'm not sure what happened."

She snorted again. "Save it Arc, there's no need for "i'm sorry's" at this point, I just hope I'll never see you again."

The rejection stung, more so than he would have liked to admit. The room fell back into silence and the clocked ticked on and on, suddenly Jaune could hear footsteps coming from down the hall. They stopped outside the room where faint murmuring could be heard before the door opened to reveal Rin and Nora, Jaune felt a strange surge of relief at just seeing the two.

"Rin, Nora you're alright." he said, a tired smiled barely making it onto his face.

"If I remember correctly you're the one who got hit by a rocket." Rin jabbed with a small smile on her face. Nora was not so tactful and bounded across the beds and medical equipment to wrap her leader into a bone-crushing hug.

Jaune had never experienced "seeing stars" before now as pain exploded through his chest. It was so profound and sudden that he could do little more than give a small _hrk!_ as his teammate squeezed harder.

"Fearless leader I thought you were a goner!"

"Nora, you're hurting." she stared at his expression before adding. "Immensely it seems."

Nora dropped the wheezing boy back onto his bed with a bashful smile. "Oops, sorry fearless leader."

"Y-Yeah Nora, just don't do that ever again." Jaune said hoarsely, clutching at his chest in pain. Nora continued to laugh as Rin filled him in on what had happened for the last two days while he was out cold.

It seems that tensions were at an all-time high between RYBN and ARSN after the escapade at the docks. Weiss personally blamed Blake for the entire thing and had been vocal about it at one point. The ensuing argument had driven a rift between the two teams as both Nora and Rin, although she was aghast to admit it, reflected their white-themed teammate's sentiment.

Going out of your way to achieve closure and try to stop something dangerous is one thing, but willingly giving into your anger and getting someone hurt was another. Rin had mostly stayed out of it for the most part seeing as Blake was already dealing with the monumental guilt of getting Jaune injured. Blake had been personally interrogated by Headmistress Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch, but luckily she wasn't expelled.

Rin couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief at that tidbit of news, for, while they weren't incredibly happy with their faunus comrade, they didn't wish to see her thrown out onto the street. Especially with the White Fang possibly alerted to her whereabouts. Overall the fallout of the dock incident had been a complete and total mess, and it served to do nothing but get someone hurt.

The White Fang down at the dock had been taken into custody which had helped to serve as some silver lining to that disaster. So, once again, to sum up in a few short words, the night had been completely shit for Jaune and everyone else. Rin stuck along a bit longer with Nora as they delivered a pile of homework and books that had been thoughtfully provided by the teachers while he was comatose.

Fucking Port and Oobleck, for some reason they delighted in his pain.

They left soon after, asking him to save his strength and nodding to Cressida before exiting. And, that of course, left an oppressive silence between the two enemies for life. More minutes ticked by and by, until Jaune thought his head was about to explode and decided to say something.

"Look, about Forever Fall, I was just angry. Unreasonably angry, more so than I thought I could get." he took a moment to collect himself. "But you threatened my team Cressida, the people I had been directly tasked with protecting above everything else. I-I'm not sure what happened exactly at Forever Fall-"

"You nearly killed my team that's what happened." Jaune flinched but he was sure she didn't see it.

"No, I mean that there was something wrong. In all my shit years of life I've never been _that_ angry, it was borderline madness." he nearly whispered to the quiet room, his talking only interrupted by the beeping of machines. "I-I haven't been feeling myself lately, I don't know what's happening but I think I'm going crazy."

He would have laughed at the thought if he had any energy to laugh with. He heard Cressida shift in her bed but she didn't say anything, once more the silence permeated the room. They stayed like that, the default mood for the room it seemed, for what might have been hours, perhaps she had fallen asleep without him noticing but he just couldn't get his mind of things.

 _I'm not really crazy am I? I've never been crazy before so why now?_ he sighed as she leaned back into the pillow. _Those questions, what could they mean? Is it possible to have an illusion seem so lucid and real?_

Why did this have to happen to him? Why did life feel like in needed to beat the dead horse known as Jaune Arc? What had he done to deserve this? All of which were relevant questions but none of which served to help him.

He hoped someone else was having a better day...

0-0-0-0

Roma Torchwick was not having a good day...

Screwing up a dust heist is one thing, annoying and tedious yes but not dangerous to his life, having to retreat from a bunch of teenagers and nearly being exposed by every cop in the city _was_ something that her boss felt the need to address. One does not simply make the mistake of displeasing Cinder Fall and walk away without their fair share of scars if they're lucky.

So here she was, mastermind criminal and leader of the most influential mob in the whole kingdom, sat square across from a woman who would most likely light both her and Neo on fire if they messed up. For all intents and purposes Cinder seemed uninterested in what was going on around her, twirling a raven lock of hair as she stared at the bottle of wine next to her. Roma desperately wished for a cigar right now, anything to keep the razor sharp silence in the room from caving her skull in from the sheer pressure of the situation. Roma saw Cinder shift slightly as she peered down into her wine glass.

"Roma," she began, instantly causing the thief to snap to attention. "I needed to talk to you about what happened at the docks a couple days ago."

"Ah yes, well you see there was a minor setback but it won't impede our plans at all-" she snapped her mouth shut as Cinder interrupted her.

"That's not what I meant Roma, and I think you know it. Or are you simply that dumb?" Cinder asked, eyes finally looking into the thief's. Roma felt Neo tense at her side but she knew that she wouldn't attack someone such as Cinder. To be honest the fiery woman had them by the metaphorical balls right now so they needed to play her little game.

"What- What do you mean Cinder?"

"I'm referring to the fact that your incompetence just costed us several squads of White Fang, literally tons of dust, and you nearly being apprehended by a bunch of teenagers. The Fang are simply animals that's true but even they will begin to doubt our success if we keep throwing their fellow soldiers to the wolves, no pun intended."

"Look, the heist was set up to go off without a hitch someone must have tipped the kids off to-"

"So you think someone went behind your back without your knowing?"

Oops, that had been the wrong thing to say. Although their employment together had been short the pair of thieves realized very quickly that Cinder despised incompetence beyond everything else in the world. Yes they learned that lesson after watching some Fang lieutenant get immolated for losing a battalion of soldiers to a police bust.

"I ugh- No not at all Cinder, look don't worry about I have everything under control this was just a minor hiccup in a series of perfect heists so far." Roma said, trying to regain some semblance of control over the situation. She reached for a cigar that wasn't there and leaned back at the minor faux pas, Cinder regarded her subordinate carefully for a moment.

"It is true that your ability to collect what we need is useful Roma, but remember that everyone can be replaced." Roma swallowed hard at as Neo tensed up again, both sharing a quick glance at the other. "But worry not, I did not invite you here in the intent of killing either of you. No what I wished to discuss is the man you indisposed during the fight."

That kid? Sure Roma had heard the guy with an aura was studying at Beacon, and sure she was surprised to find herself fighting him but it didn't really concern her when both he and the cat were double-teaming her. He was ok with a sword he supposed but obviously not nearly good enough to battle him and certainly not Neo and most definitely not Cinder. Honestly she was unsure as to why she was bringing it up.

"Yeah that guy, I remember." Roma said slowly.

"Well it has come to my attention that he could be most useful in my endeavors as it would seem. I'm sure a woman such as yourself would most certainly understand the intricacies and necessity of building a network am I correct?" Roma nodded woodenly as she continued. "Getting a spy into Beacon was one of my original goals anyway, however this young man represents a golden opportunity for me and my associates."

Oh great, this woman had associates? More people like her?! That was something she did not need to think about at the moment. "So, ugh, what does this have to do with me?"

"Well looking back at the footage I see that he took the blast originally aimed for the cat, and that presents a perfect opportunity to work at that little chink in the armor. The boy will be mistrustful for the moment, my master has already been planting ideas into his head for awhile, and I believe your work will be the perfect catalyst to kickstart a chain reaction."

"Once more Cinder, I don't see how this involves me."

"Well Mr. Arc could very well prove to be our inside man as it would seem, being so close to the teachers is certainly invaluable." she sipped her wine before looking back at the master criminal. "I'm sure you follow my thinking, yes?"

Another wooden nod from Roma.

"Well, you see, there is one issue with getting to him at the moment. The council and faculty do keep a close eye on him and I do not wish to reveal myself to the whole school as of yet. However, I do know of a way to bring him to me, but that would require a certain friend of ours."

Neo tensed up once again.


	15. The Best Medicine

**Holy shit this story isn't dead?! Yes ladies and gents you have survived long enough to see this story's return, although I ask you temper that excitement with realism. While this story now does have a loose plot progression I do not advise hanging off of every chapter, there will be delays, hiatuses, and so on and so forth.**

 **I find that I am much better at creating prompts or small strings of stories rather than fleshed out ones. As much as that sucks for the stories left in limbo, I feel as though "An Arc's Mad World" is a pretty good jack of all trades. Thanks for tuning in while I attempt to get together some good stuff for this story, and thanks for reading.**

 **If you're interested in adopting the story, PM me and we can talk.**

 **Until then,**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

0-0-0-0

Weiss Schnee was not having a good day.

In fact, it was more apt to say that her entire life since she entered Beacon had been "not good". At the beginning it all seemed so perfect, she was finally away from her mother's grasp, she could finally become the huntress she wanted to be, and, of course, she was on a team with the only known man with aura!

Of course, the reality that the man with aura was actually an unstable boy with extreme anger and inferiority issues had been a bit jarring. And yet, the constant mood swings and grumbled annoyances had almost become an agreeable white noise for her and her team, a change from the high impact energetic violence that was her own partner. But all that paled in comparison to seeing her own team leader, and ass yes but still _her_ team leader, being blown across the pavement in defense of a former terrorist.

It seems no matter what would happen, life would always find a way to mess with Weiss Schnee. The young heiress felt some unpleasant memory bubble up from within her, a long forgotten one about her mother and her so-called "advice".

 _She had been sitting alone, idly studying her arithmetic when she heard someone enter her chambers. Hoping that it would be Klein or Winter, she would've even taken her near infantile brother Whitley, the young girl tried to swallow her disappointment at seeing her mother. Regal and stiff as always, Willow Schnee crossed the lavish room with the gait of someone who knew what they wanted and how they would get it._

 _"Weiss," her mother started. "I have come here to speak to you about the possible engagement to Pluto Solaris, that young man from the mining company you met at the party."_

 _"What about it, mother?" Weiss asked, blinking at her._

 _"Well, it is the board's decision that this marriage would be most beneficial to everyone involved including yourself. So, the process has been started to have you two eventually marry when you come of age." Willow Schnee explained sternly._

 _Weiss stood up in shock. "Mother?! But I wish to become a huntress, and I can't do that if I have a husband! I don't even know this man!"_

 _"Your sister," Willow grimaced at the word. "Is already training to become a huntress under the tutelage of General Ironwood herself at Atlas. There is no need for yet another one of us to risk our lives in that ghastly profession."_

 _"But mother, I've wanted to become a huntress all my life!" Weiss cried, looking to her parent for something._

 _"Enough! I will have no more of this selfish caterwauling young lady. This is an unprecedented opportunity for a young lady such as yourself, this business merging could be very beneficial to this family." Willow snapped, causing her daughter to flinch. "You have no idea how much I have sacrificed to give you this opportunity Weiss! I have spent months preparing this and I will not let it slide because of some selfish death wish like your sister has."_

 _Willow turned and began to walk out the door, but stopped to mention one last thing. "Weiss, someone who is no good to her superiors is no good to anyone."_

 _The door slammed coldly following the Schnee matriarch..._

If Winter could see her know Weiss would shudder to imagine her response. These thoughts plagued her as she walked around the halls in between classes, students idly chatting around her as she passed. It was with her uncharacteristic carelessness that she bumped into the one girl who she had thought to be the perfect partner at the beginning of her time at Beacon: Pyrrha Nikos.

"Oh, sorry Weiss." Pyrrha apologized politely, red ponytail bouncing with her. "I should have watched where I was going."

 _Seems I'm not the only one lost in thought_ Weiss conceded to herself. "It's ok Pyrrha, how has your team been?"

Pyrrha looked slightly surprised at the question, but answered nonetheless. "Oh, ugh, I mean we haven't been disbanded and Blake isn't in jail, so ok I guess? I mean, they've been drilling Blake for questions pretty hard for the past few days and that's left all of us on edge I suppose."

"I see, and how is Ruby taking it?" Weiss may not have been the most... sociable person. But, Ruby was still a child and yet she had been saddled with a criminal teammate and the guilt of an injured huntsman, none of which was her fault.

"She's been, well, kind of a mess lately." Pyrrha sighed, Weiss now noticing the darkened circles under her eyes. "She's taken Jaune's injury pretty hard, she considers it her fault for allowing Blake and him to rush in carelessly."

Weiss placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "Listen to me Pyrrha, what that oaf did was not you, or Ruby's, fault and you shouldn't think of it like that."

Pyrrha nodded with another sigh. "I know, and so does Yang, but Ruby she's, you know, really heroic I guess? She's considers it her fault, and nothing Yang or I will say can bring her out of that funk."

"Yeah..." Weiss trailed off, the frustration between the two teams having cooled off some time ago. "Look, Pyrrha, I-I'm sorry for what I said about Blake, ok? I-I didn't mean it, I was just worried about my partner and she was the only thing that was there and-"

Pyrrha huffed a small laugh. "It's ok Weiss, I forgive you. I think Ruby and Blake do too, but Yang may still be on the fence with her attitude and all."

That was some consolation to the heiress, she breathed a sigh of relief and the two continued chatting. Pyrrha asked how Jaune was doing only to be informed he had not been enjoying his stay at the infirmary, apparently Professors Oobleck and Port had been harassing him in between their classes. Pyrrha laughed at that and wished her the best of luck as she scurried off to go do whatever it was she had to do, leaving Weiss alone once again.

 _Hmm, maybe I should go see Jaune to make sure he's ok_ she though to herself idly, something flickered in her brain causing her to blush and she forced it aside. _Or maybe I'll bring Rin and Nora to come see him with me..._

0-0-0-0

 _"Fuck kid you look like shit!"_ Qrow Branwen commented upon seeing her protege's appearance. And, as crude as it was, she was, unfortunately, not too far from the mark as Jaune did not look like the picture of health.

Nights of restless sleep mixed in with nightmares and general stress of both school and injury had cause the young man to become somewhat sunken in appearance. He needed to shave badly and there were bruise-colored bags beneath his eyes that spoke of insomnia. Even so, the young man snorted his characteristic snort and looked back at the face on the scroll.

"You're one to talk, did you check that fucking mess for birds yet?" Jaune shot back, looking at the wily mess of black locks sitting atop his teacher's head.

Qrow narrowed her eyes with a frown. _"Ha ha kid, I'll have you know this little birdie was picking some seed last night, know what I'm saying."_

Jaune's face turned strained as he threatened to yak at the imagery causing Qrow to flinch back in offense.

 _"What the fuck kid I am not that ugly!"_ she snapped at him.

"No, not ugly. Just old, really really old." Jaune grimaced, happy his teacher wasn't close enough to strangle him.

 _"Fucking kids I swear,"_ Jaune could hear her mumble. _"anyways I needed to make sure you were still sucking air like the good little leech you were. But I didn't expect you to look like the goddamned crypt keeper."_

"Laugh it up Qrow, karma's gonna kick you in the ass one day." Jaune retorted, leaning back into his mound of pillows.

 _"You have no idea kid."_ she said cryptically, a strange look scrolling across her face momentarily. _"But I guess that wraps up my mandatory one hour a month mentor-student chat. Keep out of trouble, don't do drugs, yadda, yadda."_

"Hey Qrow." Jaune interrupted, causing the older huntress to place her attention on the scroll. "Can I ask you something?"

 _"Ugh, sure kid what is it?"_

"Do- Do you think I could be happy here?" Jaune asked genuinely, causing Qrow to snap her head to the screen.

 _"Um, what?"_ she asked dumbly, eyeing her pupil strangely.

"I-I mean, like, do you think that I just stuck this out things would get better? Like, they'd have to right? I have a team, and friends, and all that good shit so I really don't have a reason to leave, right?" Jaune began to rush out, prompting Qrow to raise a hand to calm him.

 _"Geez kid pump the brakes a little. Look, is something wrong?"_

"Wrong? Who said anything about wrong? No, nothing's wrong." Jaune shook his adamantly, his somewhat shaky tone betraying his words.

 _"Jaune, is something wrong? Are you feeling alright? Do I need to come down there for a visit?"_ the huntsman's teacher asked, brow furrowed in concern. _"Look, if I need to talk to the headmistress I can but-"_

"No!" Jaune shouted, Qrow looking taken aback for a moment. "Ugh, I mean- look, just forget about it. See you soon love ya lots, bye!"

 _"Wait kid-"_ she didn't finish her sentence as the scroll clicked off, ending the video chat just as Jaune's teammates entered.

"Fearless leader! We have brought you some food!" Nora crowed as she skipped into the room.

"Keep your voice down Nora, we aren't alone." Rin chastised, earning a grumbled "finally" from Cressida. "But she is correct, we have come to give you some food Jaune. How have you been feeling?"

"Oh you know, same old burn wound and drugs. They got me on this new thing that makes me feel light as a feather when I take it." Jaune chuckled, rattling a orange bottle of pills.

"Wonderful, just what you needed: drugs." Weiss scoffed as she followed the two. "You look terrible."

"Yeah, well, that's been going around or so I hear." Jaune retorted, but despite his cocky grin his eyes carried a resigned tiredness to them.

"Have you been sleeping well?" Rin asked, reaching a hand up to her partner's forehead.

Jaune lightly smacked it away. "I'm fine, probably just this medication making it hard to sleep."

"Right, well we heard that Professor Oobleck is going to want to talk to you after her classes are done so we'll make sure not to bother you until that's done." Rin nodded slowly. "But, before that, let's get some food in you, I've tasted the stuff they have here and I personally think it should come with a biohazard symbol."

"Oh Rinny, you say that about all food that wouldn't be served in a four star restaurant." Nora giggled. "But shes' right, Nora's hungry!"

"Nora, you just ate 7 plates of food at the cafeteria." Weiss said, rubbing her temples.

"I know right? I should have gone for more!" Nora nodded, opening up what was once Jaune's lunch.

0-0-0-0

 **Later that day...**

"...In conclusion, knowledge is good and ignorance is bad. Any questions?" Oobleck finished to her injured pupil, who had asked for a short review to cover what he missed.

"Ugh, yes?" Jaune answered hesitantly. "I think I've got a solid... grasp on the fundamentals."

"Wonderful, now, we must have a moment of _self_ review Mister Arc." Oobleck pushed, causing Jaune to shift uncomfortably.

"Didn't I already do this with Petunia? Why do I have to do this again?" he asked.

Oobleck breathed deeply. "Because, Mister Arc, that is not how therapy works. Because, despite what you may think, this _is_ a therapy session. Now, I heard a little about your family, but now I wish to talk about you."

"Ok..." Jaune trailed off, waiting.

"Mister Arc, your teammates have said you haven't been sleeping very well lately." Oobleck began. "I would like to start off by you telling me why you think that is."

A sour feeling rolled in Jaune's gut. "I-I have no clue, it's probably the medication."

"Ok, so no nightmares? Or perhaps you might be feeling guilty?" the distinguished professor asked.

Jaune forced himself to remain stoic at the mention of nightmares. "Maybe I'm feeling a little guilty about going ballistic. I have to admit, I still don't know how to feel about it."

"That's normal, Mister Arc, after such an episode anyone would have mixed feelings." Oobleck agreed. "So then, tell me, how are you feeling about Beacon?"

"Can I be honest?"

"Of course Jaune, I would have it no other way."

"Then, it's been strange. I never thought I'd be the leader of Team ARSN, or even a leader at all but now I'm saddled with 3 people who I didn't even know existed until a few months ago." Jaune began, straining to come up with the words. "Weiss... She's a handful, but I think part of it comes down to the fact I don't know how to talk to people, I can't communicate with them. I don't feel like I'm really a part of this team, I feel like I'm just a placeholder for someone else, someone more suited."

"Ozpin would not have chosen you if she didn't feel you were ready." Oobleck countered.

"Really? Because sometimes I don't feel like I can even trust her Oobleck." Jaune sighed. "I don't know, she's so enigmatic and she has this thing where she moves people around like they're on a chess board, like we're pawns. Maybe it's just because I haven't been feeling myself, but she seems so... untrustworthy to be honest, and the more I think about it the more unnerved I become."

The doctor nodded. "Can you elaborate on that for me?"

"Well, Ozpin likes to coat the truth with thinly veiled half-lies and then write them off like they were necessary. I didn't even know she had cameras all over Forever Falls, and that probably wasn't the end of them either."

"A security measure, that's all it is I assure you."

"How do I know? How do you know? Have you ever gotten the feeling that Ozpin has ever told you the _full_ truth?" Jaune demanded, looking into his teacher's eyes.

"Well, to be honest, no. But that's because sometimes the full truth isn't what's necessary, truth can be very dangerous in the wrong hands Mister Arc." Oobleck explained, adjusting her glasses.

"No, this is different. It's less of her not telling the truth and her deliberately hiding something until she feels that it needs to be said. Doesn't that bother you in the slightest?"

"Mister Arc, is this really about Ozpin?" Oobleck asked, looking for the root of the problem.

Jaune swallowed stiffly. "Well, I guess not. I mean, I still have a lot of reservations about her, but, to be honest, I think I'm just more unhappy with my situation than anything. I mean, I wanted my independence, my male freedom, you know? And instead I was tricked into thinking I had it while I run in circles for the council and Ozpin."

"Well Jaune, it also comes down to how you choose to see it." the professor nodded. "This could be an unprecedented opportunity for a man like you Jaune."

"Oh please, I am so sick of being fed that line. Especially when nothing has really changed, people talk about how I have this wonderful opportunity, but what is it? No one can tell me what that is or what I'm striving for, I certainly don't entertain the idea of getting gender equality through becoming a huntsman." Jaune scoffed. "It's like I said, I've been tricked into thinking I've been set free into this world when I'm really just stuck in a gilded cage."

Doctor Oobleck wrote something down on a notepad she produced. "I see, well Jaune from one person to another I have to say that perhaps you need to let people in more."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means you need to stop being so defensive, you need to let your team in. You're their leader, they rely on you for guidance and, occasionally, strength and you need to be that for them. If not, then your whole team will suffer for it."

The words impacted with the young man, leaving him to think on them. The two talked a little bit more until Professor Oobleck decided to call it a day and left with a few words of support. Jaune limped his way back to his hospital room (it seems his condition was finally turning around) but was surprised to find the nurse already there and waiting.

She sat on the edge of his bed, idly playing with her nails before she looked up to acknowledge his presence.

"Ugh, hi Miss Laurel?" Jaune half-asked. "I didn't think you'd be here."

To be fair, he also didn't think the nurse's eyes would suddenly change color...


	16. Adopted!

**Oh my god! Are you reading that right? Well yes you are pal, this fic has just been adopted by one Serendipitous House Pet who has renamed it as "A One in a Million". You can go ahead and find that on his page so get cracking, as there is a chance that I'll be beta reading for it. Sorry that I didn't finish this fic like a lot of you wanted, but I did give House Pet my dream of where I was going, and if I end up beta'ing in for him then it'll be like I never left. I really encourage all of you who have followed and Favorited this story to go check his own, it'll be similar to my own at the beginning but soon it'll be his own vision.**

 **Happy Reading**

 **XOXOXO**

 **CoffeyJoe**

 **P.S. I am still accepting story requests for "An Arc's Mad World" y'all.**


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